Crucible Era: Chapter One:Choices
by Jeezes718
Summary: Set after the EU novel Crucible. Vestara Khai is on the run, her choices have led her astray, but her mind is in turmoil, can she reconcile what she knows, what options lay before her, and the path she desires? Can she find the clarity she seeks or will her choices continue to leave her towards a darkness she can't return from?
1. Chapter 1

**Star Wars is owned by Lucasfilms and Disney I own NOTHING**

45ABY

Deep space

Ship soared silently thought the black void of space transfixed completely on his intended destination, yet also aware of the two passengers within him.

Vestara Khai sat within breathing heavily as her companion Mirta Gev attempted to apply first aid to the blaster wounds on her right ankle and left knee, the wounds however were severe and they both knew that if Vestara was to avoid permanent damage to her legs, she had to receive proper medical attention.

"We need to get her to a hospital."

Ship however remained silent to Mirta who could not hear his voice, Vestara however could and turned to her "He says we don't have time." Mirta scoffed at this "Are you serious?! She has HOLES in her legs! What could POSSIBLY be so important?!"

"We have very nearly reached our destination"

Vestara's eyes flared at this "What differance does that make?"

"We will very soon be amongst the sith, you will be able to receive whatever treatment is necessary upon arrival." Vestara was not pleased with that answer "Define 'soon'." "If I maintain my current course and speed, we should be arriving within a matter of hours." Vestara let out a small growl "THAT IS NOT 'SOON'! MY LEGS REALLY KRIFFING HURT!"

Mirta was left guessing as to the exchange between them, she was not force-sensitive and therefore could not communicate with the Meditation sphere. "Look here -a-flying-metal-space-eyeball! These wounds are severe and if they get infected she could lose her legs altogether!"

Ship began to slow down to a near halt.

"Loss of limb would not serve us. Lady Khai would be weakened as a result, and she will require all the strength she has for her future endeavors."

"So what's it going to be?"

"There is a world nearby with adequate medical facilities where you may receive treatment. I shall find a landing site as close to the medical center as possible without alerting any authorities of my presence."

"Thank you for seeing reason, _yougiantflyingeyeball_ "

Ship redirected his course to a small planet they were passing nearby, Vestara and Mirta could see through ship's 'eye' the world they were entering, the cities seemed advanced much like Corucant or Narr Shaada though not as monolithic, but the planet still had natural vegetation, it was not a Ecumenopolis, on the outskirts of the cities dirt paths and open fields could be seen.

Vestara examined the landscape, the name or location of the planet itself,much less the city they were now in, was of little to no importance, so long as she received medical treatment and was allowed to safely rest without fear of the Jedi discovering her.

"I have located a minimally occupied section of the city several blocks from a medical center." Vestara grimaced at the word 'blocks' "So I'll have to walk my way there on these useless appendages?" Mirta let out a light chuckle in response to the question"More...limp your way there." "Go get borked!" "Hahahaha"

Ship landed amongst an assortment of warehouses that seemed unoccupied,allowing the two passengers to disembark"Make contact once you are able to travel, we have already lost precious time."

Ship then levitated away before soaring into upper orbit as Vestara watched him tentatively"In spite of the fact that he is technically an elaborate teaching aid, he certainly enjoys ordering me around." "Yeah...now, LIMP!""KRIFF YOU!"

Within a short period of time the two managed to reach the medical center, upon entering they were quite surprised to find the hospital quite busy, as numerous injured civilians were being rushed in.

Vestara wide eyed examined the scene"What the..." Mirta however was not paying her any mind as her attention was fixed on a nearby holo"There seems to be some sort of incident taking place nearby, some petty crime gone wrong or what-have-you, there were civilian...bystanders." Letting out a deep sigh Vestara turned to Mirta

"So...of all the places ship could have dropped us, he chooses a place presently involved in a SHOOTOUT?!""Look on the bright side." "Pardon?" "We don't have to explain WHY you have been shot." "Or why your nose is broken.""Shut up! HEY CAN WE GET A DOCTOR HERE?!"

Within moments an aqua skinned Twi'Lek doctor came to to assist them."What's the problem?" Mirta motioned towards her companion,"My 'FREIND' here was fleeing the incident downtown and was shot in her ankle and knee." "And she got trampled, look at that nose!" Mirta shot Vestara a look that could burn through the hull of the Death Star itself, while Vestara held an innocent grin on her face. The doctor however was not interested in their banter and stared at Mirta's face. "That fracture is already healing, it's too old to be from the riot.." She then reached up and grabed her nose with one hand and quickly jerked it to the side causing an audible snap.

" _ **SHABUIR**_!"

The Twi'Lek shot her an unamused look "I know what that mean' now your nose is properly set. Your Welcome." She then turned to Vestara "As for follow me."

The Twi'Lek doctor led them to a hospital bed in an adjacent room with a single bed. "Please lie back." Vestara complied with her request laying down as the doctor took out a small light to examine the blaster wounds on her legs "These wounds are...not recent, and someone.." turning to Mirta "...Has tried to apply VERY crude first you did sustained these injuries from the 'Incident' presently taking place, then you would have had to have done so when the shooting first started yesterday...Why did you wait so long to com in? "

Mirta and Vestara nervously stared at each other "Weeeell...we didn't have a means of conveyance to reach the hospital, we literally walked here!" "Don't you mean limped" "SHUT UP!" The doctor stared at them with her head cocked before resuming her examination of Vestara's legs. "Wait one moment." The doctor then departed the room Leaving the two alone.

Mirta stood up and ,after briefly examining her nose in a nearby mirror, followed by grumbling in Mando'a which Vestara assumed was a series of expletives, she then turned her attention to her Sith companion"So we'll get you taken care of here, and then rendezvous with ship?"

Vestara however held a rather forlorn expression on her face. "Not...just...yet..."

"Is there something wrong?" Mirta asked raising an eyebrow. "I thought your big objective was to join this hidden group of Sith." Vestara continued to sit there, her expression, difficult to read.

"It's...not that anymore."

Mirta stared inquisitively at her companion at slowly stepped towards her"What do you mean 'not that _simple_ '?"

Vestara slowly turned her eyes downward as if in contemplation "I've had something on my mind for a while now, and I...I'd rather not talk about it here, where we have...limited privacy."

Staring silently Mirta gave a small nod in agreement as the doctor returned carrying a small tray holding several bottles of various unknown liquids, a couple syringes and various medical tools.

"If you could, Please remain still" she then opened one of the bottles and poured some of the clear liquid within on to a small round of cotton, which she then held in a pair on tongs "Before you ask this is a disinfectant for your wounds,Oh, andbythewaythiswillreallysting" Without warning she began pressing the cotton round into her legs.

"GYYAAAARGH YOU HEINOUS-MMMPH" before Vestara could finish her profane insult Mirta quickly covered her mouth"Leeeeet's avoid saying something that might make the doctor do something...vindictive." as the doctor continued to clean her wounds Vestara clenched her fists and bit down on the pillow of her bed.

"If your experiencing that much discomfort then your wounds are already quite infected" The doctor then reached for another bottle of clear liquid and a syringe laying next to it,as she began to fill the syringe she turned to Vestara"This is an antibiotic to help you fight any infection from you injuries, this wont hurt untilIsticktheneedledirectlyintoyour..."

"GAAAGH"

Without even giving any decent forewarning the doctor pressed the needle into the tissue surrounding Vestara's blaster wounds, taking Vestara by surprise.

"ARE YOU SOME SORT OF SADIST?!"

"No, I just find it's typically better to just go ahead and do something, rather than coddle or baby you."

After she finished with the injection she grabbed another syringe and another bottle of liquid, after she filled this syringe she turned back to Vestara's wounds.

"This is a bacta shot, this will help your injuries heal and promote cell reproduction, and help repair any nerves damaged by the blaster fire, andnowifyoucouldsitstillwhileI..." Once again she pressed the needle into the tissue surrounding her wounds on both time however Vestara was expecting it and readied herself simply gritting and grinding her teeth in response.

Once the doctor finished she took a roll of bandages from her tray and carefully wrapped both injuries tightly. "I have done all I can at the moment but..." turning towards both Vestara and Mirta "The wounds are...severe...enough that a simple Bacta injection, and patching it up, will not fix the issue...and..."

Vestara and Mirta gave each other quick glances to illustrate their confusion to the doctor's sudden pause. The silence remained until Mirta stepped towards the doctor. "Aaaaand?"

"My apologies, it's just I realized with all the injured patients I've been treating the last two days my mind has somewhat vacated, and in the midst of everything, I never got either of your names, for records of course."

The two suddenly stared wide eyed at the mutual realization until Vestara sat up. "Ooof...course, my name is VessSSevara Raine" Her near error did not go unnoticed by Mirta who turned towards the doctor. "Sintas Vel."

The doctor stared at the both of them with an inquisitive look that suggested she didn't believe them, but her expression quickly shifted to indifferent signifying she didn't really care. "Well anyway as I was starting to say, her injuries are extensive, to the bone, she will need surgery."

Vestara shot straight up in the bed to the sound of the word 'Surgery'." **HOLD ON,** SURGERY?! What about that stuff you just shot me up with, like the bacta?!"

"That was to help with tissue damage, your ankle and knee themselves are damaged,and you still have gaping wholes in the tissue. The bacta will help the tissue damage heal, but the wounds need to be sealed, and the bone damage needs to be repaired, that the bacta wont fix,not on it's own."

As the doctor continued her explanation an increasingly aggravated look spread across Mirta's face, as though something she dreaded was coming.

"Now before we start that I do have to ask,do you possess any form of medical insurance?"

Vestara sat slightly baffled"Nnnnooo." "I can cover the entire cost of her treatment." Vestara immediately took notice of her less than pleased expression.

"Are you sure? Her treatment will be slightly expe..." "I'm sure, just go make preparations."

With that the doctor simply nodded and left, after she was gone Mirta silently walked over to the door and shut it. "Sintas Vel?" "My Maternal grandmother's name." She then proceeded to shut the window blinds, before slowly advancing towards Vestara,and she did not look pleased, upon reaching her companion she reached out and tightly gripped her shoulder and pulled here slightly closer to her.

"You did me a favor with the Columi brother, you showed me they were manipulating me for their own gain, that there was nothing left for me with them, that my goal,my objective, would not be achieved through them. AND for that I owe you, so I made sure you would receive medical attention. HOWEVER, I do not owe you so much that I'm going to just put a hole in my accrued credits for you, like it's nothing! The surgery and the bacta injection, these things are not cheap at any hospital, BUT, I said I'd make sure you were taken care of." Mirta then slightly loosened her grip on Vestara's shoulder. "You now owe me, and wherever you plan on flying off to with -flying-metal-space-eyeball-with-wings, you aren't going anywhere until you have paid me back!"

Vestara gave a reflexive scowl at the rather threatening tone in Mirta's voice, but Mirta knew what was passing through Vestara's mind and responded simply by holding up her hands, in one she had a cylindrical metal object Vestara quickly identified as her lightsaber, and in the other Vestara's shikkar.

"Before you get any ideas, know I have taken these."

"WHAT? HOW?!"

"I'm a skilled bounty hunter, I know how to pick someone's pocket, and I don' .Sith. ESPECIALLY after one broke my SPINE, and poisoned the ENTIRE atmosphere of my WHOLE PLANET!"

Vestara know looked concerned.

"I won't hurt you, or do you any harm, so long as I don't see any sparks fly off your fingers." She then sat down in a nearby chair. "But I intend to be compensated, the fund I have saved I need to continue my current endeavor, so your going to work off what you owe me." "How?" "Well...when you can actually stand you aren't that bad in a fight, and the fact that you can use the force, weeeell, that makes you uniquely qualified to deal with certain situations."

"I DON'T like to be used!"

"And that I understand, I simply ask for your aid, and when I believe you have helped me enough,I have no problem with you going off and doing what-the-kriff-ever! But as I said, I need the money I'm spending on your legs, and so I will need to replenish my funds,which means putting my mission on hold, and I personally think that matter has waited LONG enough, so in short . !"

"Do I have a choice?" "I could always walk away and not cover your expenses, and we can see how the authorities of this world like that."

Vestara let out a heavy breath,"FINE! I will pay off my debt, it might give me the time I need to think anyway."

After a few silent moments the doctor returned,"Alright, I was able to procure a surgery room, it's currently unoccupied, and no one else will need it for several hour. So let us go while we still have the opportunity."

With that several nurses came into the room one carrying a hospital gown. "They will help you change and start an I.V. and then we can take you back."

Mirta stood up and made for the door, but was stooped by the Twi'lek doctor,"I'm afraid you can't leave just yet, as with all injuries resulting from violent crimes, a statement needs to be given to the authorities." Mirta scowled at the thought of involving the authorities into their business but understood convenience wasn't a luxury in this particular instance "I am simply going to speak to a ' _ **Friend**_ '..." Turning to Vestara who understood to whom she was referring "...and tell him we won't be needing a ride until later."

"Very well."

Vestara knew Mirta could not contact or speak to ship, and so Mirta ,in her own way, let her know she herself had to. And so Vestara tried to reach out with the force and contact him.

" _Ship...Can you hear me?_ "

"Yes lady Khai, I hear you, when shall you make your return."

" _My injuries are more...problematic than we anticipated.I require surgery, and that will take a few hours, not to mention the down time I will require for recovery._ "

"That is unacceptable, we have wasted too much time, the sith are waiting, these distractions are..."

" _ALLOW ME TO MAKE SOMETHING CLEAR! YOU labeled ME a SITH LORD! A title I don't want as I know I haven't earned it, BUT, YOU insist I bare this title so now i am! And I am making something abundantly clear, YOU are a meditation sphere, you are a means of conveyance and a tool for teaching others,I ,according to you, am a sith lady, and thus I DO NOT take orders from YOU! NOW I will contact you when I am able to travel, NO SOONER! And if you have a problem with that, I DON'T CARE!_ "

For a time there was utter silence between them.

"Very well Lady Khai, I shall await your summons."

Vestara could not help but let a small giggle escape her, she had long grown tired of Ship's domineering behavior and it felt quite exhilarating to finally tell him off. And now with a newfound sense of relaxation Vestara laid back as she was taken back to surgery, patiently awaiting what came next.

 **A/N To all readers please be advised this is my first FanFic so if my grammar or storytelling is poor, or utter Schiesse, please let me know but do be gentle.**


	2. Chapter 2

Vestara awoke slightly groggy as a result of the pain medication the surgeon's gave her, she stared down and say her legs bandaged and propped up, likely to prevent her from damaging them in her sleep.

"Now how do I use the lavatory like this,not that I have to but...?" As she pondered this seemingly random thought Mirta entered the room "AH! awake I see." To which Vestara responded "Hey Buuuuuuudy, how ya dooooooin?" Mirta stared with her eyebrows furrowed "Just what kind of meds do they have you on?" "It's uh...it's uh...somethin with a funny, made up, long name." "In other words you are out of it." "Outta wha?" "Never mind."

A second later the Twi'lek doctor from before entered "So, she's awake?"

"Yep."

Vestara quickly turned to Mirta and whispered "Heeeeey, she's blue...ish"

Mirta not taking her eyes off the doctor simply asked "Just WHAT is she on."

"Something to help her recovery be less tumultuous. I'll leave it at that."

Mirta sat down near Vestara watching her smile loopily "Not that I don't mind watching her stoned out of her gourd, but, how long is she required to remain here, how soon can she leave." The doctor came over to Vestara and examined her bandages, while Vestara playfully grabbed at her four lekku "We will keep her overnight, maybe tomorrow, it all depends on how well the bacta treatment takes, and we will have to x-ray her ankle and knee to ensure the pins in her legs are steady and haven't shifted."

"And after that she will be fine?" The doctor adjusted her gaze to Mirta "Almost, after a week or so, she will need the pins removed, THAT, will be minimally invasive and only take a day or so to fully heal"

"Will she suffer any long term effects?" "Besides some mild muscular sensitivity, no, but that will pass."

Mirta watched as the doctor continued to examine Vestara before turning towards the door "If she is being taken care of,then I will adjourn, I have matters I need to take care of, when she regain's lucidity if I haven't returned inform her I will."

The Twi'lek gave a quick nod as Mirta silently left the room, as she reached the lobby she could see through a window the cab she had previously called arrive.

She exited the hospital and climbed into the cab and proceeded to address the rodian driver "I would like to be taken to the closest hotel, quickly!" the driver simply nodded and complied to her request. The drive took mere minutes, upon reaching their destination Mirta promptly pain her fair and exited without a word, and made her way to the hotel.

Upon entering the hotel lobby the human receptionist stood in attention and gave a heavily exaggerated smile "Welcome, how may I be of service miss?" Mirta simply stood slightly grimacing at his over-enthusiasm and did not speak until his giant grin slightly subsided "I need a two person room,separate beds, with whatever amenities you have, and I will be staying for two weeks, maybe longer."

The receptionist nodded and began typing in the computer on his desk, shortly after Mirta paid and was handed a key "Room 421 ma'am" Mirta simply took the key and headed toward her room, upon entering her temporary residence she simply laid out what few belongings she had on her person upon a small table in the room, and then preceded to set up her holo-com, upon completion of this task Mirta simply waited for a few moments, before the Holo signaled someone was attempting to contact her to which she promptly replied.

Upon answering a man wearing full Mando gear was projected before her "This is Velku Ordov, is this Mirta Gev?"

"Hello Ordov, it's good to finally be in contact with someone." Upon confirming to whom he was speaking the man stood straight in a respectful manner "Commander. It's good to hear from you as well, no one has been able to reach you since the incident in the rift."

"I'm afraid that I'm still dealing with the ramifications of the rift. But I did need to speak with someone in the security force, has anyone heard about Barduun?"

"Barduun?"

"Yes, he learned that I'm searching for a means of purging our homeworld of the nanokiller in its atmosphere, and for whatever reason, he did not take it well. He fell during the raid on the monolith but before-so he seemed enraged almost to the point of insanity over my mission."

"I'm not sure I understand what it is you want to know about."

"Does anyone else share his sentiment, or lack there of, on this issue?"

"I'm afraid I must report there actually has been chatter of dissent amongst the ranks."

"What do you mean." She asked while slowly gripping her hands.

"There are those in the security force who do not sympathize with your plight, they are not affected by the nanokiller, and thus fail to see why they should be involved at all in correcting the matter. It appears they hold YOU solely responsible for whatever casualties we have suffered."

"I'M responsible?!" Jumping to her feet.

"Personally I feel we do have some obligation to this matter, Mandalore's population has fallen in the midst of recent conflicts, the Yuuzhan Vong, and the Galactic Civil war. But now a portion of our people have had to vacate the planet entirely, and not all those with whom you share blood made it off world. The nanokiller may not be fatal to all of us,but it affects us nonetheless."

Hearing Ordov's stance on the subject eased Mirta and brought some semblance of a smile to her face."However" and then the ease was gone "Not all of us feel this way, some feel you are placing us in unnecessary danger in order to settle a personal matter."

With this Mirta's eye's narrow and her brow furrowed "But, I'm afraid that isn't all" Mirta placed her hand over her face "I should sit shouldn't I?" "That might be for the best."

Mirta sat back down and gestured for him to continue "It has reached my attention that on our homeworld, there are those who believe your grandfather,Boba Fett, should be removed as Mand'alore." Mirta placed her hand over her mouth and stared rather calmly for a moment "Could...heh heh heh...you repeat that."

"Oh dear."

"Could YOU repeat yourself."

"Apparently there are those on Mandalore who feel that one who can't actually step foot on the planet itself,shouldn't maintain the position of...well, the supreme leader of said planet. Sooo there seems to be a movement forming to have him removed."

"HUT'UUNLA DI'KUT'S!"

"You could have gone more profane their,I certainly wouldn't have minded, but oh well."

"And of course they choose to remain in the _safe confines_ of a world he can't enter, rather than confront him out right TO HIS FACE!"

"Lesser men often balk in the presence of great ones."

"Yes, but unfortunately they do have a...semblance... of a point, he can't perform his duties as Mand'alore if he can't actually go to Mandalore itself, as much as it pains me to admit that."

"On the plus side, whoever said individual's are, they aren't making any headway, too many either loyal, or dead terrified, of your grandfather, mostly the latter in my opinion."

Mirta sat there contemplating everything they just spoke of for several moments,pondering how much it changed things,how much it complicated everything.

"I would like to state however they won't be held at bay for long, if enough people are moved to their perspective then ,eventually, someone will name themselves the new Mand'alore, if that happens they will have the authority to recall everyone unaffected by the nanokiller, the only aid you will have are those implicitly loyal to you and your grandfather. "

"So I'm on the clock to fix this mess before everything truly hits rockbottom?"

Ordov simply shrugged . Mirta sat rubbing her temples with her hands "Are you in contact with anyone else within the Security Force?" "A couple,we're all laying low after the incident at the Monolith." "Can you get ahold of anyone?" "Perhaps a small handful." "Get as many of them together as you can, I will contact you soon, so we may 'address' everyone's ...OPINIONS."

"Very well,but if I may, Commander where exactly are you, what have you been doing?"

"Settling a debt, we will leave it at that."

With that Ordov simply nodded before ending the call.

In the silence of the room which she now resided Mirta sat assessing everything "I have a chemical weapon poisoning the atmosphere of my homeworld. I need time and resources to fix this. Resources cost money. I have some money,but not as much, not after helping Sevara(if that **IS** her name). I now need to replenish my funds. This will take time. On top of that, the soldiers under my command think the matter of our planet as trivial or frivolous, they need a 'TALKING' to. And a bunch of people now think they can just elect themselves a new 'President of a planet'."

She lay her face into both of her hands and let out a heavy groan before finally leaning back in her chair, before thinking of her companion Vestara or Sevara Raine as mirta knew her. "I can take the time she needs to recover to get more money, then perhaps she can help with some of the matters at hand, she isn't affected by the nanokiller soooo she could help with the issues at home. Although alot of people wont like me involving an _aruetii_ in this matter, but they can bite my blaster. But I need to address the matter of my own troops as well." She let out a heavy sigh before walking over to one of the two beds in the room and laying down.

"I wish I knew where Jagyc ba'buir was." She then reached into her pocket an pulled out a small holo-projecter and activated it, whereupon a single image,a photo, appeared. In the image stood two people, a man and a woman smiling at one another. The woman, a slightly younger Mirta, was clad in orange Mando gear, her her was slightly shorter, tied into two braids at the side, and with small pink flowers tucked in. The man who was almost a foot taller wore red and back Mando gear, he had short blond hair that slightly framed his face and a small beard. The two's arms were locked and joined at the hands where their fingers intertwined with one another and held each other tightly. Mirta stared at the image with a tenderness she rarely displayed anymore, and her eyes began to slightly water as she remained transfixed upon the image of the man, before letting out a whisper "I wish you were here with me." with that she rolled onto her side and drifted silently to sleep, focusing only on the image of her beloved.

 **A/N Here is chapter 2 it is sightly shorter than the previous one I am hoping to keep each one roughly the same length.**

 **And to all curious as to the Mando'a phrases Mirta used**

 **HUT'UUNLA : cowardly**

 **DI'KUT': generic insult;essentially idiot**

 **aruetii : Outsider;non-madalorian (also the same word for traitor depending on context)**

 **Jagyc ba'buir : This is supposed to be Grandfather (ba'buir means grandparent and Jagyc is an adjective that identifies Males, as all Mando'a words are gender-neutral)**

 **And in case anyone wonders the character Velku Ordov is an OC I just made up for this chapter, don't know if I will make further use of the character.**


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning Mirta returned to the hospital to check on Vestara's recovery, upon reaching her room Mirta quickly noticed she was now being treated by a male Mon Calamari doctor.

"Excuse me, but where is the other doctor."

"Your friend here, kept grabbing her lekku, so she passed her off to me."

"I told you, I don't remember doing ANY of that."

Mirta turned to Vestara with a somewhat mischievous smile "That's cuz you were whacked out on post-surgery pain meds." she then directed her attention to the new doctor "How is she, can she leave soon?"

The doctor then looked down to the chart he was holding and examined it for a few moments before directing himself back to her "Her previous doctor thought she was responding well to the bacta treatment, and any existing infection had decreased, ordinarily we would want to keep her a little longer but the increase in patients has resulted in a shortage of space for any potential intakes. I'd like to check her vitals, examine her legs..."  
Vestara quickly sat straight up "That sounded a little creepy."  
"Okay. I would like to check her 'Injuries' to ensure they haven't reopened."

"And if everything is alright with her?"

"She should be able to leave, my examination shouldn't take long."

"Alright."

Mirta walked over to a chair next to Vestara's bed and leaned in towards her "So have you heard from our **SHIP** recently." Vestara slightly grimaced at that word, Ship, such an innocuous,unimportant word that now seemed to hold a certain level of disdain for her now "No, I haven't received any 'calls' lately."

The thought of ship not ordering her around was quit a relief, Vestara had been trying to regain her bearings for quite some time, but Ship's demands, and subsequent orders were taxing on her mentally. Ship had his own secrets and ambitions, to which Vestara was not even remotely privy.

After a short time the doctor addressed the two of them "She appears to be doing well, she will of course have to return in a week or so to have the pins removed, but in the meantime, she is well enough to leave, provided she stay off **both** legs."

Vestara turned to Mirta very quickly before whispering a question "Did you speak to the authorities regarding my injuries? They said we needed to." Mirta leaned in closer to ensure none could hear "I took care of it while you were in surgery, I gave them some lame story that pretty much matched everyone else's and they believed it." Vestara leaned back o her bed letting out a sigh of relief "Good, I was half-expecting police to suddenly barge in weapons blazing to drag our sorry asses off to jail."  
"They could try!"

In the course of the next hour Vestara was discharged completely, and provided a prescription of pain medication, then wheeled out of the hospital to a cab Mirta had called. Together the two silently adjourned to the room at the hotel Mirta had rented.

Vestara examined the domicile upon entering, it was small but sufficient, against one wall was two beds next to a refresher, while against the opposite wall was a small personal fridge a two-burner stove, a sink, several cabinets, and finally a small table at which Mirta had set up her Holo-comm.

"huh, quaint."

Mirta helped her companion over to the bed she herself had not resided in the previous night before pulling out the chair from the nearby table at sit down facing Vestara.

"Now that we have privacy, it has come to my attention we have things to discuss."

"I suppose."

"Let's start simple, like with your name, your REAL name!"

Vestara was taken aback by this comment but tried to maintain her composure "Whatever do you..." Vestara stopped upon seeing Mirta's unrelenting gaze "How'd you figure 'Sevara' was fake?"

"I'm good at telling when others are lying, but you are good **AT** lying, sometimes, I had my suspicions when we first met, but at the hospital you were too distracted with your injuries that you reflexively started to state your true name. Although you _did_ catch yourself, you confirmed my theory."

Vestara sat thinking back to the events to which she referred, it was true Vetara had had a near slip of the tongue at the hospital, and Vestara was probably bad at selling her alias, after all she wasn't use to being on the lam. On top of all this, Mirta was a fairly decent bounty hunter, this required a certain eye for details, fooling her would be a feat in and of itself.

"Vestara. My name is Vestara Khai."

"Well nice to truly and officially meet you Vestara Khai. Yes, that name just fits better than Sevara. Now there is the matter of **WHY** you needed an alias in the first place."

Vestara's face immediately sank at the question, it was not one she wished to answer but she knew truly her companion would not simply let the matter rest, there was too little trust or faith between them, simply debts. Still she did not with to delve into personal matters.

"Why does that matter?"

"Because you and I have already been caught associating with 'Unsavory' individuals, like the Qrepth brothers, together. And since your going to be helping me, I need to know of any ,and **every** , thing that may complicate matters."

Realizing that arguing this point was moot Vestara relented "I did something stupid" Mirta raised an eyebrow and cocked her head "Something **REALLY** stupid, something that cost me the trust and respect of quite possibly the only person whose actual opinion of me mattered."

"What did you do?"

"I pretended to try and kill an innocent child." "Pretended? But...the person in question, they don't know about the 'Pretended' part do they?"

Vestara shook her head "No, and he has no reason to believe me even if I told him."

"He? A boy." Mirta leaned forward "Just what was this boy to you?WHO was he to you?"

Vestara remained silent on the matter, but to someone like Mirta sometimes silence can speak volumes, and her silence provided the answer Mirta sought. "I see, where you two 'involved'?" Vestara slightly nodded in response "Was it serious?" "I REALLY DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT THAT, **OKAY?!** "

Mirta quickly jolted backwards at the outburst, _That's a yes_ , Mirta thought realizing she had struck a nerve, and very sensitive nerve.

"Why are you hiding from him, why is he a threat now?"

"The child he believes I tried to kill is his niece, and well the fact that we don't have the steadiest of history doesn't help."

"I don't understand."

"We met when I was ordered to kill him and his father, Grand master Skywalker."

Mirta simply sat connecting the dots in her head before momentarily coming to a startling realization "Ben Skywalker?! You were with Ben skywalker, Luke Skywalker's son?"

"You know him?"

"Eeeeh, I would more say I know OF him, I know his cousin Jaina very well though."

"I think she want's to kill me."

"Wait...the child, the little girl was it...Allana Solo?"

"Yes. You know her?"

"Again, I know OF her. Her father Jaina's TWIN on the other hand, that _**CHAKAAR**_ MURDERED my MOTHER, BROKE MY SPINE, and is the reason I can't go home!"

Vestara was too terrified to say anything, she had yet to ever see Mirta get this enraged over something and it was an unpleasant site to behold. "Jaina mentioned her brother was a sith lord, and she had to kill him to save many, but she did not divulge his full history to me."

"Well the list goes on TRUST ME!" Mirta then took a moment to calm and re-compose herself "Now the question I've been pondering. WHY did you pretend to try and kill Allana Solo?"

"That requires some explanation, and it is a long story, are you sure..." Seeing curiosity in Mirta's eyes Vestara decided to forget her question and continue "Very well. It starts with me and where I come from. I was born into a hidden and unknown tribe of Sith, I was raised solely upon the teachings of the Sith. When I was 14 I first encountered Ship when _he_ discovered _us_.  
He enabled my people to travel off-world and begin our battle against the Jedi. When I was assigned to kill Ben and his father I failed **miserabely** , every Sith that accompanied me, including my master, was completely slaughtered by the two, so I ran,very VERY fast."

Vestara briefly paused to re-position herself on the bed to avoid causing her legs discomfort "After a series of events, which at the moment are of little import, I came to be a prisoner aboard their vessel, Ben and I are just about the same age, so we became...close, his father did not approve, and my father wanted me to use that to manipulate Ben."

"Hey messed up father figures, we have something in common. 'Cept in my case it's Grandfather."

"Anyway, eventually, I started to become ,disillusioned you could say, by the Sith way, and began willingly staying with the Skywalkers, this put me in conflict with my father and one of my superiors Sarasu Taalon. Later circumstances required I eliminate Taalon before he became...something...else. "

"Something else? What are you talking about?"

"That's another story. But after I killed Taalon my father tried to kill ME, eventually I had to kill him in self-defense, shortly before hand I learned my mother had recently been killed as well. I was an orphan, and the only path I saw available to me was the light side of the force.  
And I did try, I did, but who I am, what I am, it's simply too ingrained into me, I made mistakes.  
Then my Tribe invaded Corucant, I was separated from everyone and cornered by them, they knew what I had done, in an attempt to save myself I lied saying I was spying on the Jedi, they however demanded proof my word no longer held any meaning."

"So, what 'proof' did you offer?"

Once again Vestara's face sank as she clearly didn't like the next part "The Sith were looking for someone, someone who would eventually become a great threat to them. I, through shear happenstance discovered said individual to be Allana, it was fresh on my mind so it popped out. Upon hearing this they past me a thermal detonator, led me to where Allana was and well, told me to have at. I made sure the detonator did not land near her, but I made it look good enough to fool them into thinking I honestly failed to kill her, what I didn't take into account was that everyone else would believe I meant her harm as well."

"Aaaand Why wouldn't he, Ben, believe you if you told him you were faking?"

"Regardless of whether or not I meant her physical harm, I still exposed her to the Sith! They know who she is and they now have their target! And that I did do, of that I am responsible."

"And where does this other faction of Sith ,that Ship is so keen on, fit in?"

"I'm not sure, they are separate from my tribe and thus hold no known hostility towards me, and Ship thinks they are in need of my experience with the Skywalkers."

"So your joining them is Ship's idea, not yours?"

"I guess."

"You mentioned back in the hospital you weren't sure you wanted to join them anymore, or that it wasn't that _simple_ anymore, you mentioned something was on your mind and you needed time to think."

"I...I was raised in a tribe of Sith separated from the rest of the galaxy. Separated due to the fact that our ancestors crashed and were marooned on a distant backwater planet, when we FINALLY acheived off-world transportation we discovered our very image of what had become of the rest of the galaxy ,was wrong, a fallacy.  
The Sith were all but gone, WE were unimportant and forgotten. Noone even knew we existed!  
And now Ship want's me to trade that in for ANOTHER unheard of, unknown, and most likely UNIMPORTANT, faction of Sith. Whether I want to or not is irrelevant I have no other option's left, I lost all faith, all awe in the Sith way. I simply didn't want it anymore, but it's too deeply rooted now, I can't escape it! I am a Sith, whether I want to be or not."

Mirta stared quite at her with an almost empty expression, taking in everything before letting out a heavy sigh "Pardon my language, but, that's total RANCOR SHIT!"

"What?!"

"Let me give a little unsolicited advise, if you live your life based on the limitations another has placed, you will NOT be happy, if you live based on how another tells you to, you will NOT be happy, and as for having no option's you have a million options, your way of thinking is simply too narrow.  
Now if you want to go join this new Sith, fine, but if your doing it because -Metal-Space-Eyeball-With-Wings told you to, I doubt you will be satisfied with that life. "

Mirta satisfied that for the moment she knew enough of her companion, sat up and walked over to the nearby table and gather her equipment, before turning to Vestara "I need to go attend to some recently developed...complications, that may at some point require your assistance." She then set down a small pouch on Vestara's bed "Here are some ration bars they should last a couple days provided you don't gorge yourself on them."

"And if I have to make use of the refresher, for whatever reason that arises."

Mirta simply pointed at the nearby wheelchair she brought Vestara in on "Really?" "I shouldn't be gone for too long, I just gave you a couple of days worth of food IN CASE I was delayed."

Vestara eyed her slightly irritated "And what am I supposed to do in the meantime"  
"Rest, recover, get better. I'm going to need your assistance soon." Mirta headed to the door but suddenly stopped and turned to Vestara "If I may, what exactly sparked all of this sudden indecisiveness in you? You seemed a lot more confident and held together before at the monolith."

"During the raid I...encountered...Ben. It just got my brain to thinking, about stuff, my choices and what-not."

Mirta could see whatever feeling's Vestara developed for Ben, were still VERY much alive, and now that they were on opposite sides, she was hurt, with an injury that wouldn't simply heal with time.  
Mirta was somewhat familiar with what being separated from a loved one by circumstance felt like, and it wasn't pleasant, though her situation was not the same or as complicated as Vestara's.

"I'll comm when I can ,inform me if our myopic friend call's."

With that Mirta was gone and Vestara was alone, in her isolation she simply lay down on her bed and tried to get some sleep, she felt much safer here than at the hospital. She closed her eyes hoping that sleep would provided some sort of relief, when little else would. At that moment she needed any relief she could find, for although he had not spoken to her recently, Vestara could _feel_ Ship hovering above the planet, waiting. It was a sensation she longed to be rid of.

 **A/N Here's 3** **This chapter is meant to serve as sort of a recap of some event's that have taken place in the EU, so no real action yet, it's coming though**

 **Btw, for some reason when I upload the chapters onto the site some of the words in the chapters themselves get removed, but they are still there in the original document on my computer, if any one notices that a line is just missing a word please inform me so I can fix it, Thank you.**


	4. Chapter 4

Mirta arrived at the nearest spaceport via cab and proceeded within intent on meeting one of her comrades.

She walked through the hangar examining the ships presently docked, searching for a specific kind. After a few minutes she found what she was looking for, a small Mandalorian cruiser designed to hold only a small handful of people, she knew it to be the one she was searching for, after all what were the chances she's find another Mando here.

Mirta had been in contact with one of her comrades in the Security Force and arranged for them to meet prior to discharging her companion Vestara from the hospital.  
Mirta simply stood in front of the Mando cruiser until after a brief moment the ships hatch opened granting her access.

She entered to see a single female Mando possessing a fair complexion, albeit slightly paled from being consistently covered by armor, with very short dark brown hair and hazel eyes, she wore full Mando gear but kept her helmet on a nearby shelf.

Upon Mirta's entering she stood up and extended her hand "Good to see you commander Gev, although we've worked together for some time I don't believe we have properly met, I am Merys Cadera."  
Mirta took her hand, promptly yet firmly shook it before sitting herself down. "Pleasure, now do you have news regarding our compatriots?"

Merys sat down as well before handing a data-pad to Mirta "Unfortunately as I'm sure Ordov mentioned the entire Security force has become divided, there are those who believe the nano-killers in Mandalore's atmosphere is an atrocity that needs to be removed, they are sympathetic to your plight and do not believe one who has served Mandalore should be, for want of a better term, exiled from it. Whereas there are also those who simply don't care, don't see how matters that do not affect their lives should do so."

Merys gestures toward the data-pad she handed Mirta "That is a list of every one who is still willing to follow your command.  
The rest however, no, they wont follow, not without 'motivation'. Simply put, they aren't happy being employed for what they feel are 'personal' matters. And I'm afraid they may have a point."

Mirta's quickly shot her gaze towards her fellow Mando and her gaze hardened.

"I mean absolutely no disrespect, BUT, employing members of the Mandalorian Security Force on whatever endeavor's you need manpower for ,as though we are all you personal Bounty Hunters, is a misuse of authority.  
This isn't an issue of half will help you, while half hate your guts.  
The problem is you are employing us for your personal matters, and as a result a portion of the Mando under your command no longer see you as fit for the station you fill, while the rest of us are still willing to follow your command please understand, we are NOT your personal mercenaries."

Mirta sat silently contemplating what all Merys had just told her, begrudgingly forced to admit she had a point, she HAD misused her authority.

"Velku feels we should all take part in the removal of the virus, and I will admit it does affet us, but, your attempts to find a cure led to your dealing with unsavory individuals, and you put US in the cross-hairs of the Jedi."

"Are you frightened of the Jedi?"

"No. But we as a people are not in any condition to get involved in any unnecessary conflicts, and getting caught in whatever affairs the Jedi are isn't necessarily prudent, especially given the outcome of our recent involvement with Jedi."

Mirta sat reading the data-pad for a moment before addressing her host "So I basically came all this way to get chastised for my recent life choices and to get told in my current endeavor I'm by myself?"

"No. As I said the matter of the nano-killer affect us all, if you find a cure, and I mean a true, 100%, undeniable cure we will aid in the acquisition and dispersal of it.  
However if your hope simply lies in shady types who claim they can synthesize a cure with naught more than their disreputable word, that may or may not bring you into into dire conflict with those you presently have no business being engaged in , then yes you are alone save for those who have personally chosen to aid you of their own volition.  
It's not what your doing it's HOW you go about doing it."

Merys stood up and moved towards a near by counter and grabbed a pitcher of water and poured to glasses one for herself and one for her guest before sitting back down and continuing her statement.

"But, you aren't a child I shouldn't have had to come all this way to explain all of this to you, you are distracted, unfocused."

"I beg your pardon."

"I believe I was fairly straight forward, you aren't an idiot, the matter with the Columi was a mess, and there was some blow back as a result, why I'm having to explain everything to you is beyond me."

"Are you suggesting I'm inept?"

"No, I'm am perhaps suggesting that you are distracted to that point of missing the obvious."

"And what could possibly be distracting me."

"I don't know, when was the last time you and your grandfather, the Mand'alore saw each other."

"My Grandfather and I have each elected to seek our own solutions. "

"Alright, fair enough. Well then, when was the last time you saw your husband?"

Mirta shook in response to the question and stared wide eyed, unprepared as to how to respond to it, but after a few moments her face hardened and she glared fiercely at her fellow Mando before simply turning away.

"Your right my head hasn't been on right, I've been more acting recklessly and putting myself and those under my command in danger.  
So here's what we are going to do, let's get ahold of everyone we are in contact with, have them reach out to everyone else and meet, all of us, face-to-face.  
In regards to finding a cure,I will continue by myself, I have someone who can aid me, albeit temporarily, I will limit those I involve in this matter so as not to garner any more scrutiny."

"I seem to have struck a nerve."

Mirta continued to ignore her statement "How long would it take to get in contact with everyone?"

Merys let out a heavy sigh while contemplating the answer herself "Several hours most likely."

Mirta sat tapping her finger, in the midst of their discussion another matter altogether had come back to her, the matter of her funds, which were still depleted from covering Vestara's medical expenses.

Mirta simply stood up setting the data-pad down on the table and heading to the back end of the ship towards the exit "If you could please, arrange a meet between everyone, sooner the better, while you are doing so, I shall see if there is any potential business on this world to help with my finances. "

"Very well, I will contact you when I have a time and place arranged. Try not to get too involved in whatever business makes itself available to you."

Mirta promptly exited the cruiser and left Merys to her task, proceeded out of the docking area and into the lobby of the spaceport where she found a small booth meant for newcomers to the planet where she could look up any pertinent information.  
As she scanned through the news articles searching for anything demanding of her 'skill-set' she noticed a bulletin, it served as both a warning for tourists and an opportunity for bounty hunters, as it so happened the shootout that was taking place when Vestara and Mirta came to this planet, which provided them a rather convenient excuse for why Vestara had been shot, had ended in four perpetrators evading authorities, and now a bounty was out on them.  
Mirta stared at the four faces each individual was of a different race one Trandoshan, a Devaronian, a Quarren, and a Nikto, Mirta almost grimaced as she found all four of them ugly even by the standards of their own species.  
Mirta couldn't help but smile at the abounding irony of the situation, it provided them a cover story before, and now the situation was of use to Mirta's financial needs, whether or not any of this was Ship's intention when he picked this world Mirta was already enjoying the opportunity afforded her.

Mirta quickly found a cab and headed to the spaceport closest to the area where the event had taken place, she doubted they were off-world yet, but if they were trying then that is were they would go in her opinion.

Upon arriving she quickly covered herself with a loose cowl and hid her helmet, she knew her typical appearance would immediately tip off the four she was after them, after all what would be the likelihood of a Mando being in the same area as them, while not entirely impossible, it was't overly probable.  
She proceeded into the docking area of the spaceport slowly made her way through scanning the crowd, searching for her targets, she was enjoying herself, she was enjoying hunting a bounty once again and was quite pleased the opportunity presented itself so quickly.

She spent the better part of an hour searching the docking bay before she caught a glimpse of her targets, one of them , the Nikto seemed to be negotiating with a Duros for transportation off world.

"If I try to approach them directly they will just start firing into the crowd, they have already displayed they possess no qualms on the matter. But if I were to distract them or perhaps momentarily incapacitate them."

She then turned her sight towards the ship they were preparing to board searching for any weak or vulnerable area's that weren't in plain view, but she had to take care to ensure that they did not notice her staring lest they panic and attack any living thing within any proximity to them.

After a short moment she spotted an area of the ship where a well placed explosive would completely disable it, and for certain the explosion would discombobulate if not completely render conscious her targets.  
An added bonus is the sound of the explosion would send any nearby civilians running out of harm's way.

Very carefully she slid through the crowds and made her way to the opposite end of the ship, she then produced from her armaments a small thermal detonator, which she then proceeded to set and attach to it's target.

"Now to keep them occupied."

She then walked right up to the Nikto and addressed him in the highest most ditzy voice she could muster.

"HI THERE! Do you know what time it is right now I'm on the clock you see!"

Th Nikto shot an almost morbidly irritated expression at her "Yeah, it's time for you to go and get your self a watch and leave me ALONE."

"REALLY?! I thought it was like 5 seconds before the bomb I stuck on your ship like EXPLODES"

"I...Wait hold on...what now?!"

Before he could completely comprehend what she had just said, Mirta quickly ducked to the ground as the detonator exploded tearing apart their intended ship in the process, effectively sending debris through the air, a small piece of which struck the Quarren in the head rendering him unconcious but, as his continued breathing belied, alive.  
And as previously suspected any surrounding civilians that could have been potentially drawn into the fray immediately dispersed.

The Nikto shook off whatever debris had landed atop him and look upon what had now become of their intended escape, only fury shown in his eyes as he then turned toward the female Mando.

"YOU **BITCH**!THAT WAS OUR TICKET OFF THIS HOLE!"

Mirta simply smirked as she slid her helmet on and removed her cowl revealing just who she was

"Sorry 'bout that but there is a rather lovely reward for bringing you lot in, and I NEED the money, and you see allowing you to make it off world, that would just complicate matters, I'd still catch you, don't get me wrong, I mean you wouldn't actually get away ,but , my schedule is packed enough I would rather not add 'Chasing 4 dumb-assess across space' to it. "

The Nikto now was completely en-fumed by her rather nonchalant behavior and lunged at her with a heavy left punch, but Mirta could see such an attack coming from miles away, larger than her he may, but he was slow, and his attempt to strike her lacked any finesse.  
She easily sidestepped the attack and when his back was to her she made a quick jab to his right hip area, around where his kidney would be.

"GAAAGH, YOU LITTLE..." now so angry he didn't bother to finish his insult he swept his right arm towards her in a wide arc, but she easily ducked the attack and responded with a fast,but no less powerful, jab to his abdomen, which caused his body to lurch forward, to which Mirta brought her other hand upwards with a heavy uppercut to his chin, knocking him clear off of his feet and landing on his back with an audible thud.

Mirta slowly advanced toward him to make sure he was unconscious, she was no stranger to people trying simple ploys to try and deceive her.

As Mirta focused on the fugitive below her , she failed to notice someone approach from behind.  
Mirta was then jerked forward as someone tackled her to the ground, looking up she could see it was the Devaronian of the group.

"I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE, I DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU CAME FROM, OR WHAT YOUR ISSUE IS, BUT" The Devaronian then positioned himself above her and place his hands around her neck in a threatening manner "I'M NOT GONNA GO EASY ON YOU JUST 'CAUSE YOUR A GIRL."

Although noone could she beneath her helmet her eyes rolled "Who am I, I'm the person with a clear shot at your 'nads!"

"Do what now?"

Before he could piece what she might have meant Mirta quickly shot her knee upward into his groin causing him to release any hold on her, which she immediately took advantage upon by grabbing the brim of his shirt and quickly headbutting him, to which she suffered no ill effect as a result of her helmet.  
Now completely disoriented he stumbled off from atop her, granting her the opportunity to strike him in the side of the face with her elbow, now completely down she wrapped a single leg around his neck and grabbed his horns.

"The wanted Poster said alive it didn't say..."

With a quick and powerful jerk of her wrists his horns snapped off of his head causing the Devaronian to make an almost deafening screech.

"That you needed your horns or ..."

She then loosened the grip around his neck, grabbed the back of his neck and pulled back before proceeding to slam his face down onto the hard metal floor,rendering his unconscious and, resulting in an audible cracking noise she assumed was his nose, from which now blood plumed.

"That your nose needed to work, although if it's any consolation I know how that last one feels."

Shortly afterwards she heard a familiar clicking noise she knew to be the sound of a blaster charging, to which she turned not to find one of the fugitives but the Duros with whom they had been doing business.

"YOU! You...you..you.."

"Now before you go calling me something unsavory, I want you to contemplate how I'm gonna take it."

"MY SHIP! YOU **BLEW UP** MY SHIP! MY SHIP, DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THEY WERE OFFERING ME?!."

"Okay, everyone is shouting, it's grating my nerves so let's be civil."  
She then produced a Vibroblade from a sheath on her belt.  
"Your going to put that gun down after you consider what I did to them with my hands, and what I could do to you with a sharp object like **this**."

The Duros stared slightly dumbfounded before dropping his blaster and walking away.  
"Kriff it, I don't need any more of this."

She heard a grunt behind her to which she responded by grabbing one of her own blasters, which had been preset to stun, spinning around and firing, dropping the Trandoshan fugitive, and thus rendering all four unconscious, and ready to be collected by the authorities and completing her task.

"I wonder what Vestara's up to."

 **A/N LIKE AN UNPAID ELECTRIC BILL I RETURN! I apologize to anyone who thought this took to long  
**

 **OH WRITERS BLOCK YOU FICKLE MAIDEN!**

 **Personally I wasn't happy with the first half of this chapter I kept typing and deleting it over and over, I don't even remember my original idea, I hope someone likes it.**


	5. Chapter 5

Vestara tossed and turned in her bed trying to get comfortable, but her injuries, and the medical pins inside them, simply wouldn't allow her to acquire any semblance of rest.

"Stupid legs, stupid blaster holes, stupid Mirta leaving me here a day after surgery. The hospital bed's were more comfy than this, and there's a chance someone has recently fornicated or died in this bed, or fornicated AND died, in succession!"

Vestara continued to tumble around fruitlessly before finally relenting and simply staring at the ceiling, only her idle thoughts entertaining her.

"Wonder what Mirta's doin. She off beating someone into a coma, she blowing half a city somewhere up, or is she locked in an epic battle against an army of EWOCS!?  
...Alright I'm starting to lose it."

Boredom was beginning to overwhelm her completely and she desperately needed a distraction, something, **ANYTHING** , to take her mind off of her still sore limbs.  
Soon with no other course or alternative, her mind drifted toward a place she would rather not venture, not now at least, try as she might to stop it her thoughts inevitably faded towards someone she hurt, someone with whom she was once very close, Ben Skywalker.

Vestara had never really given a profound amount of thought to the dichotomy of the Jedi and the Sith until she had met him. In her life it was all black and white, good and evil, she was on one side and the Jedi on the other, and it was a simple matter of 'Last one standing' between the two.  
All her life she had to work to meet the expectations of her peers, live to their standards, be exactly what they wanted and sometimes NEEDED her to be.  
Then she saw Ben, his father Luke, and cousin Jaina. They were different, unlike her parents, they held each other to no actual standards or needs. This had come to bother her, the stark contrast with how Luke, the Jedi Grand Master, taught, raised and treated his son, her father Gavar, while at times he showed genuine pride in her, mostly only when she succeeded at something, he still held her to a harsh standard, still expected things of her she wasn't particularly pleased with.

Vestara remembered very clearly how her father and Sarasu Taalon devised a plan to trick the Jedi after acknowledging the attraction between Vestara and Ben, the two of them beat her bloody and sent her to plead with the Jedi to be taken to safety, to pretend she was in danger and play upon their better nature.  
Vestara could remember how her own father, who she only wanted to impress and make proud of her as all children desired, suggested to Taalon that they disfigure her to try and garner more sympathy out of the two Jedi, Taalon prevented this but only because of their society's obsession with vanity, they frowned upon scars and loss of limbs, and treated those who had such mars upon themselves with an almost disdain.  
Taalon only looked out for her on the grounds that if they took it too far, she wouldn't be pretty anymore, the fact that THAT was what prevented her own father from mutilating her was...disturbing, at the very least.

The plan almost failed however, she returned to where she believed the Jedi to be waiting only to find them gone, unbeknownst to her they had hidden in anticipation of the Sith, Taalon though wasn't fooled and struck Vestara with a bolt of Force lightning knowing Master Skywalker wouldn't be able to simply stand idly by and watch her be placed in danger. Vestara wasn't privy to that part of the plan. And in-spite of it quite clearly being a trap, in spite of her actions clearly having held sinister motive, Skywalker came to her aid, he defended her from Taalon and her father, and took her with them to continue their mission, he gave her a chance.

After all of that how it didn't just immediately snap into her head that she was perhaps on the wrong side was quite beyond her.

Vestara had always been given some negative almost menacing image of just what the jedi were, what the stood for. But upon meeting Ben and his father, actually meeting them, she came to see this perspective as skewed.  
They were nothing like she had been led to believe, but in a way they still were, though they weren't afraid to defend themselves with violence they did so abhor having to resort to such methods. They preferred negotiation, mediation, they preferred to stave off violence until all other means had failed.  
But they were also forgiving, something she never anticipated. They were willing to trust her, willing to let her earn forgiveness, despite her betrayals and attempts to murder them.  
And then there was Ben, the one person she didn't want to think about right now. Not only had he chosen to forgive her, to advocate for her in the face of everything, he had loved her.  
And that was quite possibly the most painful part.

What hurt more for her, that fact that the people she had come to care for were technically her enemies and thus being any part of their lives was almost completely out of the question, or that they treated her better than any of her friends, any of her peers, any of her family?

And now her thoughts were awry and tumultuous.  
And why?  
Because she threw it all away.  
The trust, the forgiveness, the love that they...that HE...offered her.  
She just couldn't stop herself from being what they made her, a killer willing to do anything to anyONE in order to survive.

It was just as she told Mirta she betrayed them once to many, and in the worst way. She never had thought of what may have occured as a result of said betrayal, how exposing Allana Solo to all those who might wish her harm, could have affected their lives.

All of this, these thoughts, these ponderances, she had tried so hard to not let them creep into her mind, ever since Ship flew her away from Ben and Jaina back on Abeloth's homeworld, ever since she fled from the one person she could adamantly say she loved.  
She tried so hard to ignore these grating thoughts, this had never happened to her before, after so long she had previously managed to push them back to attempt to move past her own inner turmoil. But then she saw him again.  
Back at the rift she saw Ben again, and now these reflections had returned, now she was plagued with self-doubt and contemplation.

"I need sleep, I need to make my brain just SHUT UP!"

She quickly gestured towards her wheelchair and through the force made it wheel itself over to her bedside and then locking the wheels. Grabbing the armrests on the side of the chair she slowly raised herself up and positioned herself into the chair, taking great care not to bump her legs in the process. Vestara then wheeled herself into the small kitchen area, and with continued gestures from her hands, a small plastic bottle and a small glass levitated into her hands.  
She filled the glass with water as she read the bottle.  
"Take as needed for pain...side effects include...DROWSINESS, HAHAHA thank you."  
She carefully read the label on the medication bottle and after confirming enough time had passed for her to have another dose of it she quickly opened it and swallowed on the pills with her glass of water.

"Now for the love of the force, I can perhaps get some sleep!"

Returning to her bed she patiently waited for the medicine to take affect, however soon wasn't soon enough as it was not long her mind once again began to wander towards contemplation's she was vigorously trying to avoid.

Her mind once again ventured towards Ben Skywalker, the only boy she had ever been romantically involved with, the only person besides family she had allowed herself to feel love for.  
She pondered if their relationship could have lasted even if she hadn't made the mistakes that she had.  
What if, she thought, what if she hadn't allowed the Jedi Natua Wan to die so she could save Ben? What if she hadn't exposed Allana to their enemies, what if?

Vestara began tossing and turning, she had nothing to turn her gaze, nothing to entertain her, nothing to keep her busy, and no Mirta to say something to irritate her.  
She had been wounded and injured in the past, but never had she been outright incapacitated for any length, she was unused to this sensation, not having something to occupy or placate her mind.  
This sensation was becoming something of great annoyance, she had no time nor desire to be conflicted or restless, if she could not stay focused then those who are undoubtedly searching for her are bound to catch up.  
She has gone to great lengths to put distance between herself and those she wronged, for the time being she wish for it to stay that way.

Before too long however her thought became less chaotic and progressively more dampened, as well the pain in her legs began to subside and she was at long last beginning to relax.

"Finally, goodnight stupid legs, and goodnight stupid brain!"

She slept for only a short while until something caused her to awaken, or rather someone.  
She wasn't sure how but somehow, someway, somebody had gotten into the hotel room with her. Unsure if it was the force that alerted and awoke her but she could tell, she was not alone, and that frightened her.  
Without moving she slowly cracked open one of her eyelids and tried desperately to catch a glimpse of her visitor without actually moving her body and alerting them that she was awake.  
She hoped and prayed to whatever divine presence that might be listening that is was simply her companion Mirta returned from whatever business she had left for and she simply remained silent for Vestara's benefit.  
However from what little she could see it was not. Her visitor was clad in a hooded robe that covered them completely, but they were the wrong height and build to be Mirta.

Vestara sat trying to make out the person's face but couldn't. She whispered to herself "Damn." while slowly opening her eyes ever so slightly more in an attempt to ascertain the individual's identity.  
Unfortunately her increase in vision allowed he to see that whoever it was they were staring at her, and noticed her attempts to gaze upon them.  
The unknown individual slowly advanced towards her bed before removing the robe they wore exposing their identity.

"BEN!?"

Vestara sat up and crawled backwards on her bed distancing herself from him as she sat dumbfounded as to how he, of all people, could have found her. But before she could ponder this, Ben did something that she never saw comeing, he leaned forward and kissed her.  
Vestara was, to say the least, confused but decided to go with it, she couldn't deny she enjoyed the sensation of their lips pressing against each other. Before long the kiss deepened and she felt what she was sure was Ben's hand slide across her shoulder. He slowly slid his hand beneath the collar of her shirt and gently pulled down unclothing her, and she shortly followed suit.  
Before long the two had completely disrobed one another and had taken each other in an embrace, While Vestara was most certainly enjoying herself she was utterly clueless as to how this circumstance had happened, one second she was alone and trying desperately hard **NOT** to think about Ben,and then there he was and within seconds they were making love, she had more than a little trouble connecting the dots.  
As the two continued their embrace Vestara could feel her heart rate increasing tremendously, and her temperature rise, soon the two's embrace was nearing it's climax when suddenly Vestara sat straight up gasping for air.

She looked around, Ben was nowhere to be seen, she looked down at herself, she was still fully clothed. Her heart-rate was high and she was sweating profusely. But she sat there in confusion trying to make sense of what just happened when it hit her.

"Did...did I...just have...an... an erotic dream...about BEN?! _**SERIOUSLY**_?!"

Her face immediately turned bright red as she reached behind, grabbed a pillow, shoved it into her face and screamed, LOUDLY.  
She sat there for a moment and a strange query entered her mind, what upset her more, the fact that she had the dream in the first place, or, the fact that that's all it was a dream, a fallacy?

"Well...that has never happened before"

Vestara lay there for only a few moments before the drowsiness began to return, much to her joy.  
"This time let's avoid the subconscious booty-call."

Vestara;s vision darkened until suddenly she found herself in unfamiliar territory she looked around to fnd herself in the middle of a courtyard of some sort.

"Aaaand I'm dreaming again, well to be fair all I asked was nothing sexual and it looks like I got what I asked for."

She looked around, studying her surroundings, shortly noticing she was standing in front of a temple of some sort. Upon examining it, she deduced it resembled some of the Sith temple's she had studied in her adolescence, but it clearly wasn't, it resembled in design a Sith temple but somehow, it just wasn't, she had never seen it before but she just had a feeling.  
She looked around at the terrain, the Temple seemed to be in a valley between a set of mountains, there was some plant life, foliage, trees in the immediate surrounding area.  
For the life of her she couldn't figure out just where she was supposed to be.

She looked over and noticed she wasn't alone, there was another in the courtyard with her, a small child. Vestara walked slowly over to whoever it was, before long she was able to discern it was a young girl, she had bright fiery red hair, that looked quite familiar, and she wore tan-ish jedi robes. As Vestara crept closer to the child she noticed the little girl seemed to simply be playing with toys or some such, leaving Vestara slightly curious as to why she was alone, take a quick glance around she saw other people in or around the temple going about whatever matters they had, but she and the child were the only ones in the courtyard, a fact that while not unusual, she couldn't help but ponder. After a few moments the child appeared to become aware of Vestara's advance and turned towards her stopping Vestara in her steps.  
However much to her surprise upon being spotted the little girl smile widely and waved at her almost as if with a sense of recognition, but now that she saw the child's face she knew for a fact that they had not met.

"Hello there, can I ask why your all by yourself?"

The child tilted her head and shot her a confused looks "I'm not by myself, YOUR here."

"Okay, fair enough I guess I am. But um...could you perhaps just tell me your name."

The little girl giggled playfully at the question "Silly, my name is Mara."

Mara. A name Vestara had not heard before, but somehow felt as if she should know it, and the way 'Mara' answered her question it was almost as if SHOULD have at the very least known who this child was.

Vestara was now confused more that anything else, she stood in front of a temple she's never seen, but somehow did not feel out of place, with a child she felt she should know.  
She then looked down at herself for the first time , and noticed somethings that were different about her, she wore her casual clothing but with robes on over them, not necessarily an oddness but she presently didn't have these robes in her possession, then she saw a foreign object attached to her hip which she grabbed a hold and brought to eye level. It was a lightsaber, but not hers, the handle was customize to in some way almost resemble the grip of a knife, she noticed it conformed to her hand very comfortably, and at the end two small angular prongs framed to opening where the blade would project, she took notice these prongs were almost exactly like the one her father had attached to his lightsaber.

"Now where did I get this?"

Curious as to what it looked like she reached out to press the ignition panel, but upon contact all that happened was a bright light emitted from the opening causing Vestara to shield her eyes, but upon opening them she noticed she was simply lying in her bed in the hotel room, now awakened from her unusual dream. And more than a little confused.

"Okay, so it appears my subconscious is telling me that I either need to get laid, OR, go visit random temple's and talk to children I probably should or should not know...and upon retrospect I most likely shouldn't have 'getting laid' and talking to children in the same sentence, lest I sound like some sort of deviant. "

She looked at a nearby clock and saw she actually had gotten quite a bit of sleep, though not as much as she would like.

"If I try to go back to sleep I'll most likely just have another weird, inappropriate or unexplainable dream that will leave me more than a little baffled. "

She then turned towards the bottle of her medication that sat on her nightstand.

"I blame you stupid medicine I haven't ever had before, making me pass out and have bizarre dreams,they should put that on the label 'WARNING: may cause you to trip balls' "!

She noticed however she was still tired, and with little recourse she may as well resign herself to sleep, she wasn't presently hungry, and if she tried staying awake she would most likely just wind up arguing with her mind.  
So she once again lay back staring at the ceiling as she slowly began to drift off, hoping her sleep was more benign this time. As she drifted off she couldn't help but ponder her dreams. Her imaginary tryst with Ben, a boy with whom she was no longer involved, but still cared for nonetheless. And Mara someone she did not now nor ever know, but the child was so eerily familiar, a fact she couldn't help but dote and linger on.  
And in an almost humorous irony she thought back to Ben, the person she originally didn't want to think of.

"I wonder how he's doing, is he losing his mind too?"

And with a small chuckle sleep took her once more.

 **A/N New Chapter! Mostly just some recap of some of the events of Vestara's to help explain her mental indecisiveness.**

 **Also to anyone who actually reads this, I would like to explain I have no actual set schedule as to when I update this as I do actually work 2 separate jobs, so not an abundance of spare time, just saying, no consistent schedule.**


	6. Chapter 6

Jedi Academy: Planet Ossus

Ben Skywalker set restless in his personal quarters, within the Jedi temple, a place he had known almost all his life. In this place their were happy memories, and memories of pain and sorrow, but now neither were placating his mind. He lay in his bed with an almost surly expression, only half trying to sleep, while the other half of his thoughts rested on something else, or rather someONE else.  
Ben was no stranger to pain, deep personal pain, he had lost his mother, far too soon by everyone else's perspective, and the one who murdered her his own cousin, his unofficial Jedi master, a man he loved like a big brother.  
Yes, he was no stranger to heartache, but recent events had struck him in a way that he was unaccustomed to.  
Ben had been rather reserved in his early years, he was born amidst war itself to a woman dying of a biological weapon, he had to be placed in the care of his paternal aunt and uncle due to his parents obligation's to the war, a war he could feel through the force, the pain, the sorrow, and the anguish in which it left in it's wake, it was truly enough to traumatize any young child.  
Ben hated what he could feel trough the force and forsook it, it frightened him pure and simple, no one could blame him, the events concurrent to his birth were not pleasant ones.  
I wasn't until he was around the age of 10 his cousin Jacen Solo managed to convince him to open up to the force. He always trusted his cousin, they had grown close through Jacen's parents, but Jacen had been changed by the horrors of the same war that frightened Ben, Jacen wasn't at all who anyone thought him to be, not anymore.  
Jacen had in a sense become quite paranoid and would regularly use the force to erase Ben's own memories in order to hide his own personal secrets, such as his secret daughter born out of wedlock to the queen of the Hapes Consortium, yes, Jacen would always take extreme measure's to hide which he didn't want known, before Ben trusted him and believed the blatant lies he told to justify himself, now he looked back on the events and couldn't help but feel violated.  
Ben's own social awkwardness and trust issues would only be worsened when his cousin brought him into the Galactic Alliance Guard, or GAG for short ,Ben always found the abbreviation humorous. During his time with GAG he was given sometimes covert missions, and made to see thing's from a purely analytical perspective, this distanced him from many of his loved ones, especially his mother.  
Ben always felt terrible he hadn't listened to his mother more, perhaps if he had pulled away from Jacen as she begged him to, then perhaps the events of her death could have been avoided, at least that's how he felt.  
The greatest violation was perhaps that while Jacen gave him kind smiles, and reassuring words that they were in the right, secretly he was trying to pull Ben to the dark side, make him his Sith apprentice, turn him into that which his father, and mother so vehemently opposed, to turn him into his own family's enemy.

Ben had well enough reason to have trouble opening up to people, he honestly had spent little time with his own father due to these circumstances as well, it took his mother dying, being betrayed by his mentor, and his father getting exiled for him to finally spend time with him. Ben was close now to his father, and for a while he was the only person he felt he could be open with. He had come to enjoy the witty banter he and his father exchanged, and Ben sometime made a sport of testing the extent of the Grand Masters patience, at his own peril. Ben however was only in recent years beginning to see the full affects of Jacen's influence, when visiting races he was unfamiliar with he was somewhat disrespectful, he had not been taught to be sensitive to the difference of foreign culture's, and he still held an incredible talent for analysis (which sometimes bothered even his father), ordinarily such a thing wouldn't be a problem but his almost militaristic perspective did unnerve some, and Ben couldn't deny when it came to combat, he WAS quite violent at time's, no doubt an after taste of his cousin's attempt to turn him into a Sith.

Ben was always cautious of new people, he didn't let people in to life easily, he met people in his work as a Jedi but he never let people in.  
Then he met her.  
Then he met Vestara Khai.  
Ben had never pursued a relationship with anyone before, he had never really been interested in anyone before, but somehow, in an almost ironic manner, he developed feeling for her. His father didn't exactly 'approve' of the relationship, mostly because of all the times Vestara tried to kill them and the fact that she was a Sith might have influenced his opinion as well.  
Still though, despite the conflict in backgrounds and moral's he came to love her, and she him, at least he hoped that was the case.  
But it seemed that once again he put his faith into the wrong person, after he let her into his life she betrayed him in a way he didn't know che could forgive, at least that's what he thought at first, but now he didn't know.  
Ben admittedly didn't know what constituted as 'Normal' in his life, and so he wasn't sure if the fact that he still thought of her counted as 'normal'.

"I'm messed up." silently he sat up and reached for a nearby data-pad, after a few button presses a video came up, a security recording to be exact. A video of a hangar bay,in which his uncle's legendary ship the _Millennium Falcon_ was docked, he saw a figure, a brown haired girl, throw a small object towards the ship, it flew straight threw the air, and collided with the side of the _Falcon_ in a fiery explosion, and while it couldn't be seen in the video his uncle Han Solo was behind the section of the ship that had just been engulfed in the explosion, luckily he survived the blast.

Ben's only remaining cousin Jaina was livid about the entire event, she and Ben had seen the footage, they knew who it was attacking the ship and by proxy Jaina's family, they knew her to be Vestara Khai.

Vestara had told Ben what she had done, and at the time he forgave her, he appreciated her telling him, but there was a detail she left out, the fact that the entire event was actually an assassination attempt on Ben's young niece, Jacen's daughter, Allana.

When Ben learned of everything she had done he was so furious he forsook any faith he held in her then and there. But with the passage of time, and the settling of his mind, it just didn't seem so straightforward. When he saw her next she was in the employ of the Qrepth brothers, a pair of Columi who ran a criminal enterprise against whom Ben was leading a group of Jedi against. Amidst the chaos of their conflict he saw her, in his anger he attacked her, not his favorite moment, in response she actually used one of the Qrepth brothers as a shield, personally he didn't care the two of them weren't saints by any standard, so Ben didn't even bother holding that action against her.

Ben sat continuing to watch the security footage, he felt entitled to be angry at her, like it was how he should feel, but at the same time, he missed her dearly.

Ben quickly sat up and left the room, proceeding down the hall he made his way to his fathers quarters, he had specifically requested he and his father NOT be in adjoining rooms, (he was technically an adult now and wanted his own space). After a minute or so he reached the room he was searching for "Hope dad's awake." he then gently tapped on the door, and listened, before long a voice answered "Who is it." Ben smirked "Obi-Wan Kenobi." there was a brief silence, most likely a result of Luke face-palming. "Very Funny, come in."

Ben quickly entered the room to find his father sitting down in a chair near his bed reading something from a data-pad, "Most likely a novel or something." he thought. Luke stared up at his son and briefly smiled.  
"Hello son, what brings you here at this time of night?"  
Ben stared at his feet for a moment before looking back up at his father "Dad, I have something I need to ask you, something serious."  
Luke sat up and set down his data-pad "Alright, go ahead." He then gestured at a nearby chair.  
Ben silently sat before speaking "Dad, I wanted to ask you something...about mom."  
"Yes?"  
"Mom was, is, great and we all love her,we all hold her in high regard, but... mom had a past, mom...did things."  
"Yes."  
'And, well, you forgave her, you saw past her previous actions, and you loved her. "  
"Yyyyeees, you said you had a question?"  
"Well what I'm getting at is, if when you met her you just looked at who she was, what she'd done, and just formed your opinion of her right then and there, do you think you would have eventually married her, do you think I would have happened?"  
Luke stared blankly for a moment before clearing his throat "That is a very serious question, and honestly,I don't know fully how to answer.  
It's no secret your mother wasn't the first person I was ever involved with, but, I did enjoy her company even when I was with someone else, I enjoyed spending time with her, probably should have taken that as a sign. But honestly in spite of what she did in the past, I can't imagine a life without her, without YOU. When I first met her it was in the midst of the Thrawn campaign, we were forced to work together despite our disagreements, and we spent weeks in each others company."

Ben slyly raised his eyebrow "Really?"

"Oh hush, nothing happened."

"Seriously, nothing, now I mean this in a non-creepy way but ,mom was very attractive, and you two were with each other for weeks and nothing happened, what were you in a coma, or, was the 'equipment' not working?"

"I promised never to hit you, but I didn't promise to not want to.  
No, nothing happened between us at that time, a fact I sometimes regret, but mostly when I first met her my main school of thought was something along the lines of 'Why is the attractive redhead so angry at me?'.  
But, back to your question, I got to know her as a person in that time, I learned there was more to her than the assassin Palpatine had turned her into, you asked if I just formed an opinion based on what I saw of her, would I have eventually married her, frankly I don't see why not, perhaps the circumstances of our meeting simply doesn't suit your query. And besides those emerald eyes of hers still drive me crazy. "

Ben smirked at his remark.

"Now Ben, I'm not a complete idiot, the reason you asked about that, I imagine it has something to do with Vestara?"

Ben gave an almost sheepish look at his father "I know I shouldn't be, but I still think about her, a lot lately."

Luke let out a heavy sigh and scratched the back of his head "I figured you wouldn't have just accepted what happened and forget about her."

"Dad, is that normal? I mean after everything that happened ...I still miss her."

"Can't deny this is not how I imagined you eventually coming to me for relationship advise. But honestly son, it does make some sense."

Ben stared slightly perplexed "Really?"

"She was your first love, and she broke your heart, that doesn't just fade away.  
Now admittedly I'm not the best authority on relationships, it took me 10 years to figure out I'd already met the right woman, but Ben yes I believe this is normal."

"Your not mad?"

Luke shook his head "Nope, though I am curious what sparked this all of the sudden?"

"I saw her, at the rift, as you know. And well we didn't talk or anything, it's I saw her and was kinda still angry and so I tried to apprehend her."

"But she got away."

"I don't know how, I certainly didn't let her. But when we got back I just, couldn't stop thinking about her."

"I see, well how about we address what you really wanted to ask?"

Ben nervously scratched his head, he knew his father could tell there was more on his mind than that singular query "Dad, if she ever wanted to come back...could she?"

Luke's eyes widened at this seemingly random question "Do you know something I don't?"

"No, its just...a thought."

"Son, what she did was not something that can be so easily overlooked, these are matters that need to eventually be addressed, but if, big IF, she wanted to return and she genuinely wanted to, I would not oppose it, but it's not my decision Ben, I've retired."

"You...wouldn't oppose it."

"Oh, don't sound too surprised, when she asked me before ,I thought it was some ruse. But she opened herself up completely with the force and I saw no deception, her desire was genuine. In my line of work, I have met many who were in the thrall of the dark side, and some legitimately wanted to change, but change isn't always easy it takes work. Some of the people I tried to help returned to the dark side, I will not deny this saddened me, but if they had ever returned I would not have turned them away, I would try as many time as it took.  
I have only met a few whom I truly ever believed beyond salvation, Palpatine for one, but Vestara...I've known many who have done far worse than she."

"Seriously, you'd give her another shot?"

"Yes, I mean Kam who spent years of his life controlled by the dark side because my father killed his father, became a member of the council, he and Tionne run the academy which we are presently residing, AND he officiated at your mother and I's wedding. Why does my willingness towards her surprise you?"

"I was under the impression you didn't like her."

"Okay, let's set the record straight. I did at first dislike her, pardon me for having negative thought's towards a person that just tried to kill me, and my only offspring. HOWEVER, I did eventually see her change considerably from how we first met her, and I realized her potential to be a better person."

"So why were you so opposed to me dating her?"

"Because, the biggest influence in your life was a guy that went off and got his girlfriend pregnant, OUT OF WEDLOCK, and then hid said fact from his own parents, Han and Leia didn't learn about Allana until she was 4 and she blithely stated 'Jacen is my daddy'. Can you imagine the shock that came with THAT statement? Now with Vestara I could see you were attracted to her, and in a 'non-creepy way' I admit she was attractive for a teenage girl. But given Jacen's influence on you, and the fact that she was OBVIOUSLY tring to seduce you, I wasn't confident in your willingness to 'Resist the dark side'."

"Come to the dark side, there's boobs."

Luke simply gave a stern scowl at his son and held out his right hand in a menacing manner.  
"What are you doing?"

"Pretending to shoot you with lightning."

"AAAAAH, daddy's going Dark side!" Ben quickly hid his right hand behind his back "Don't make me an amputee!"

"...Now I wish Vestara was here, she always volunteered to smack you for me."

"Oh, come on it's all in good fun."

"I distinctly recall this starting out as a serious conversation."

"I apologize you know I can't resist the opportunity to drive you crazy. But yes, back to our original topic. If she tried to come back just for whatever reason, could she?"

"As I've said that's no longer just my decision, I have retired from my duties as Grand Master, if she were to try to return, it would be in the hands of the other council members. But now I must ask you a question."

"Okay, Shoot."

"This matter clearly seems to be important to you, or at the very least it hangs heavy on your mind, so I must ask, how far would you go to see her liberated from the dark side."

"I...I'm sorry, what do you mean?"

"I mean, to what lengths would you be willing to go for her? If her return was a certainty, what would you be willing to do to make it a reality."

Ben opened his mouth to answer, but no words came, he didn't have an answer.

"Alright before you answer that question, I want you to ponder this one, and I want you to give this one some thought, don't answer right away. But just what does she mean to you, how important to you is she? I guess what I mean to ask is far do you think a relationship between you two come potentially go, could you see yourself spending your life with her?"

"And just how is that relevant?"

"It's relevant because you need to really know just for what reason's you would try to help her, if it is simply out of the goodness of tyour heart, then I would accept that and be quite proud of you, but if you wish to help her for more personal reason's, I want you to be cautious, I have to believe noone is beyond redemption, but not everyone want's or accepts it, she could still hurt you again. So you need to understand what she is to you, and then you will have an answer to my previous question, and once you do we will see what comes after."

Ben shifted his eyes as he considered everything his father just said before nodding and standing up  
"Thanks, I'll give all that some thought." Ben made his way to the door before turning back to his father "Night."

"Goodnight son."

Ben simply left and headed back towards his quarters, silently pondering his fathers query, just what did Vestara mean to him?

 **A/N Here's another, finally got around to bringing Ben into the story and showing his thoughts, Hope you enjoy it.**


	7. Chapter 7

Mirta sat silently listening only to the hum of the engines and the various click and chirps of the assorted consoles belonging to the cruiser in which she and Merys now traveled, she had been rather quiet the whole trip, in fact less talkative than usual as of late. There was a reason as Merys had previously guessed of Mirta's recent laconic behavior, but it was not something she even remotely wish to discuss especially not to someone with whom she only possessed a working relationship with.

Merys was hardly adverse to her passengers lack of conversation, she herself was used to silence when traveling so it was hardly new.

Mirta was in deep contemplation of what would come next, she held no leads on a cure for the Nano-kller in her homeworlds atmosphere. That was her end goal find a cure, and go home. It always sounded so simple when she just said it, but life hardly worked out so simply.  
She thought of all the ways the virus could be used to hurt people, hundreds, thousands, but no known way to remedy it, to fix the damage caused by it. It all seemed so self-destructive, the same could probably be said for many things in life but now, when one was the victim of such foolishness they see things in a more enlightened perspective, as if one did not truly realize just how unnecessary certain things in life were until they became a problem for them.

Mirta thought of all the previous conflicts she had been involved in, how everything though difficult and perilous ultimately seemed surmountable, something she could accomplish.  
She remembered how she first met her grandfather, it wasn't a happy teary loving family reunion, she sought him out at the behest of her mother, Boba Fett's own daughter, Ailyn Vel. Vel hated her father, she was not fully aware of the circumstances in which he left her and her mother, Mirtas grandmother Sintas, she always believed Fett had abandoned his family though in truth he had been exiled for charges of murder and forced to leave his family, Ailyn had also been erroneously lead to believe her mother Sintas was dead. She held strong feelings of disdain towards Fett and all the misconception and fallacies only made it worse. She wanted him dead. Ailyn and Mirta planned on killing Fett together, and Mirta honestly though they could, she knew Fett's reputation, she studied what he'd done, his various accomplishments, and in-spite of all she learned she thought they could be the ones to end Fett once and for all.  
She was never quite sure why she was so sure of all the people in the universe they had the best chance, maybe because they were his blood, and Fett, as Mirta had learned in recent years, cared very much for family.  
But even in comparison to what she faced now, an almost intangible problem a conflict that she couldn't feel or physically see, the thought the prospect of hunting and ending the legendary Boba Fett actually seemed doable at one point.

All of her conflicts, missions, and what not had something a clue, a hint, a target, something that she could follow to locate her objective, but now she saw no clues, she held no answers, everything was unknown, and it grated at her, and the increasing days and years that it went unresolved only made it worse.

Mirta finally decided to break the silence and walked over the her traveling companion  
"So where EXACTLY are we going and who all will be meeting us?"  
"Where, is just a waystation in the Iego system, it's outer rim and noone really cares enough to ask why a bunch of Mando have gathered, now WHO, not too sure I know it won't be everyone, but I think it will be enough to convey whatever you need to say to everyone else."

"I see." an almost awkward silence say for a moment "You were right."

"About?" Slightly raising an eyebrow.

"I haven't seen my husband in some time, and it seems to be bothering me more and more as of late, I don't have much left in the way of family."

Merys tried hard to avoid eye contact " _OH lord are we actually doing this right now?_ "

"Do you have any family?"

"Not really, unmarried, only child, parents died a while back."

"I see, both of my parents are gone, all I've got besides Ghes is my maternal grandparents."

"Fett is your mother's father?"

"Yeah, he and grandmother divorced years ago, then she got frozen in corbinite and now looks like she could be my older sister."

"...I...I got nothin."

"Yeah imagine how awkward that was, 'Hi, I'm your granddaughter, your 34 and I'm 19, this totally isn't weird' and given my usual family drama, that was actually one of my more normal days."

The atmosphere became silent again, Mirta felt weird sharing bit's of family drama to a practical stranger, but she honestly had nothing better to do at the moment.

"So what exactly is your plan? Everyone who's loyalty to you is wavering probably won't show, not all of them anyway. Those who are attending this little get together most likely won't have too much problem following whatever instructions you have."

"Are you afraid that those who don't like me anymore will become a problem?"

"I'm sure you've heard of the problem back home? There are people who don't think Fett should stay Mand'alore, not if he can't return to the planet he's supposed to be running, people lose faith in your ability to perform the job your grandfather, the Mand'alore, assigned you and they may begin to see things by the other parties perspective. "

"So...if enough of them are upset with my 'performance', they may take it out on my grandfather? Well pardon my language but that's a dick move."

Merys let out a small chuckle "That it is, but I'm just pointing out a possibility."

"Back to your question, I simply plan to send everyone who can back home, as you and Velku have made clear, our people haven't fully recovered from the conflicts that have plagued the whole galaxy, and honestly someone needs to put a lid on the issue they have with my grandfather, last thing we need is the people getting divided and just causing more civil violence like they did back in the Clone Wars." Merys shot a confused expression her way "What? I read history."

"So you called a whole meeting just to shout 'Go home'?"

"I plan on doing more than that obviously but that's the major thing I think needs to be done, those who aren't personally working with Grandfather need to maintain some semblance of peace on Mandalore."

"Very well."

The two spent the rest of the trip in silence, Mirta said what she needed to, and Merys had nothing to add, only a short few hours later the two reached a large waystation within which several ships had already docked, a few which Mirta could easily identify as Mandalorian.

Mirta looked through the windows, she could see various worlds in the distance but not exactly close "This station isn't orbiting any planet, and its pretty in between, almost like its floating in the middle of nowhere, seems almost random."

" That's the point, there are alot of open areas in space with nothing occupying it, makes sense for a waypoint to be in an empty region. Not as many customers, but within range of several stars, enough to run on solar power."

In mere moments the ship docked in the station and the two exited, upon reaching the lobby area of the station the spotted someone clad in Mando gear whom upon noticing them gave a suggestive wave for them to approach.

"Ah, you two were almost late."

Mirta narrowed her eyes to the almost unusual remark "How exactly can we be late, if we called the meeting in the first place?"

"Well, everyone else is almost here, pretty soon we would just be waiting on you."

"Fair enough, so were is everyone else meeting?"

The unnamed Mando led them to another ship that had docked at the station, this one was much larger than the one they themselves had arrived on, and understandably could house a meeting of this kind.  
"Besides the two of you only a few more are coming in, last we checked they weren't to far out so we should be able to start soon." After this he walked back towards the station lobby, likely to await anyone else, Mirta and her companion made her way in to the ship through the opened cargo area, where several Mando were waiting, one who's armor she slightly recognized as the man she spoke to recently Velku Ordov, before long he took notice of her presence and walked over with some haste.  
"Well good to see you Gev, Merys."

"Hello Velku" looking around the room "Is this everyone?"

"Oh no, the rest are in the other sections of the ship, simply waiting for everyone else. How are you two I trust you made without difficulty?"

"Noone bothered us, nothing happened, it was a quiet uneventful trip."

"Before we left she bombed a spaceport, and ripped off a Devaronion's horns."

Velku chuckled "Ah, so its Tuesday?"

"Oh Kriff you both!"

Mirta simply sat down nearby and sat silently, her mind wandered towards her Grandfather. Admittedly they met under the least amicable circumstances, but eventually they saw eye to eye, and had since grown quite close, the two had done much together since their meeting, and she honestly had come to love and accept him as her family and blood.  
She thought of how in an almost ironic twist Jaina Solo, the daughter of Han Solo the man who was in part responsible for throwing Fett down the throat of a Sarlacc, came seeking training from Fett, to learn how to kill a Jedi no less. Mirta was weary of Jaina, at the time she almost perceived her as a potential threat. But the true irony lay in how close she and Jaina had become, how good of friends they became, though Mirta hadn't spoken to Jaina in years, especially after what Jaina's brother had done to her, despite his promise not to.  
She almost wondered if she held Jaina in part responsible for her brother and his actions, if that was why she became so distant though she didn't think it was fair to blame her for such things. However some part thought Jaina or at least any of the other Jedi should have tried to undo the damage inflicted by Jacen, but instead they along with everybody else wrote it off as forgone and ignored it.

Before long her thoughts were interrupted by Velku trying to get her attention.  
"Gev, the rest are here!"

Mirta stood up and looked around, a considerable amount of Mando were gathered in the room all with gear of varying decal, she then advanced towards the center of the cargo bay they were in and turned to address everyone present.

"So, I guess everyone knows why I have called you, in short I screwed up, I involved all of you in a matter I which I had no business, I believed that the reward, the end justified the means, and for that it was more than acceptable to utilize your respective skills in the ordeal.  
I was wrong and some of our comrades were lost in a Jedi raid, a battle which we had no place belong caught in the middle of. Fact of the matter is your services are better served on our homeworld, there seems to be some civil unrest as a result of the Mand'alores inability to return home, we need to stop this from escalating.  
I personally can't return as most of you are aware I need the rest of you that can to go and keep whatever civil disputes are going on back home from turning violant. I need you to tell everyone who isn't here to head home. I can't return home, others are prevented from returning as well, and I plan on fixing that, regardless of any of your skepticism. "

A brief silence followed before one of the Mando walked towards her.  
"And why exactly should we continue to follow any of your instructions, you have been running around this whole galaxy looking, and grasping at any solution that may present itself to you, and whatever messes you get caught up in you have drug us into.  
You and your grandfather can't even return to our homeworld but you both still maintain positions of influence, why?"

"Well, on the matter of my Grandfather, I think he's earned whatever position he now holds, don't you? I mean, if you really object why don't you go and voice your opinions to him personally. Don't worry, I'll wait."

The unknown Mando cringed and seemed to audibly shudder at the suggestion, even at age 75 nobody actually wanted to get of Boba Fett's bad side.

"Alright, but what about you, some of us have come to think you were only made the commander of the Mandalorian Security Force because 'Granddaddy' said so. So again why should any of us listen to you?"

Mirta smiled almost mischievously,"You want to know why?" after a brief pause she turned slightly to the right before quickly bringing her right fist up and struck the Mando in the left of his helmet causing it to fly off of his head, resulting in various scattered responses.  
Still dazed from the initial impact the unnamed Mando didn't notice Mirta rear back her left hand and strike him across his face with a solid punch causing him to keel over onto the floor. Almost immediately after she heard hurried steps behind her coming towards her, she quickly turned to the side in time to see another Mando's fist fly past her face missing only by an inch or two, but now whoever they were they left themselves open as Mirta quickly grabbed the arm with both of her hands, one at the wrist and the other at the elbow, and twisted the person's arm around their back and used the momentum to press them to the ground, and with a quick jerk she dislocated the man's arm before delivering a swift kick to the face before the man had a chance to scream.  
Suddenly a pair of arms reached around and grabbed Mirta, Mirta however knew how to counter this as she pulled him forward, slightly lifting him off the ground momentarily, which gave her right arm room to move which she immediately took advantage of as she began repeatedly elbowing him in the gut until his lost him capacity to hold on to her anymore, she spun around and elbowed his head with her right arm and swung her left arm around delivering a heavy punch.  
Before she had a chance to look and see if she had any others present would join into the fray she felt a blow strike the right side of her jaw, for a moment she staggered before she turned to face her attacker this time a female Mando, like all of her previous attackers she was covered in armor and could not be seen. She rubbed her lip seeing that some blood had been drawn, she then waited for her opponent to act, after a brief moment the female Mando threw another punch but Mirta blocked it with the backside of her forearm, before bringing the same hand forward to strike her in the face, while she delivered a quick jab to her attackers abdomen with her other arm.  
Several others joined into the fight but Mirta had been taught by her Grandfather to defend against greater number in combat, before long several other Mando lay unconscious at her feet, when she looked around and saw noone intended to continue the violent altercation, she walked over to the original Mando who questioned her in the first place and rolled him over seeing her had regained some of his senses.  
"That, is why, that is why you should follow my orders, because at the moment I don't see anyone else qualified to give any at all. Now call all your friends tell them what I told the rest of you, AND ALL OF YOU GET YOUR ASSES HOME! "

Mirta then walked over to where Merys and Velku stood see ing rather amused expressions on their faces, before Merys addressed her.  
"So, the reason you called a big meeting, wasn't because you figured you needed to say all of this in person, but rather you wanted to literally beat some sense into anyone that questioned you?"

"I figured I just needed to remind everyone who I am."

Velku raised his hand slightly "And if everyone who showed, didn't have a bone with you, what then? You gonna call someone up to beat them up? It seems to me your master plan to get everyone to listen to you rested on someone hear hating you."

"I was confident enough people would show, I figured there were those who disliked me so much they just wouldn't show and then those who had a chip on their shoulder and weren't willing to pass up an opportunity to voice their opinions. I however wasn't expecting so many though" gently rubbing her jaw and left eye both of which were now visibly bruising "But the number did certainly help make my point."

Merys let out a small chuckle "And your point was?"

Velku turned to her "That she doesn't take other people's shit."

The surrounding Mando began to leave the ship they were presently gathered in and made their way through the Station to their respective means of conveyance, leaving only a small group of Mando, several of which removed their helmets. She pondered for a brief moment why this particular group chose to stay as none of them were among those she just fought, before an idea entered her mind.  
"Your all related to clones aren't you?"  
The group all nodded their heads in response before one came forward to address her  
"We all managed to vacate Mandalore when the virus was released on this ship, seeing as how we all couldn't return home now, we have been traveling together."  
It almost upset her seeing more people besides her Grandfather and her in the same situation though one the one hand it meant she had aid besides Vestara alone. After a breif pause she turned to Velku and Merys.  
"I would like you two to return to Mandalore as well, at the very last I'd like there to be 2 people there with brains."

The two each gave a small chuckle before nodding in acknowledgement and departing as well. Mirta then turned to address the remaining Mando.  
"You all dont mind if I tag along with you lot do you? We are technically all related"  
One of the Mando stepped forward "Not at all, the ship had room for a couple more."  
"Good now do you mind terribly if I bring a...traveling companion? She isn't Mandalorian but she is helping me."  
"Do you trust this person?"  
"I trust her enough, she helped me with the Qrepth's, so she has endeared herself to me."  
"Fair enough."  
"Now on that matter would you mind if we go grab her, she is for the moment crippled and I left her all alone in a dingy hotel room."

One of the Mando facepalmed at hearing this "She's crippled..."  
"Temporarily, she's post-surgery."  
"...And you left her by herself?"  
"...Shut up, I'm not perfect. Can we go grab her or not?"  
"Yes, lets go."

Mirta let out a sigh of relief, she was pleased to have help, and a proper means of conveyance besides _Ship_ "I think today was productive."

 **A/N I'M STILL ALIVE! Good lord this chapter took forever to right, between work and taxes I had no time to work on this, I'm honestly not to crazy at how it turned out, The main point was Mirta beats up a bunch of people, and I had to find a way to stretch that out.  
But hopefully some people like it.  
Also in case noone has already noticed I've been using some chapters for recap on several characters, mainly to help set the scenes, and to help everyone who isn't as familiar with the expanded universe.**


	8. Chapter 8

Planet Ossus Jedi Temple

Within the temple in a room reserved for students to practice, Ben Skywalker silently practiced his lightsaber technique speaking nothing to himself with the silence only being broken by the hum of a holo-projector he had set up currently displaying the image of a tall woman, clad primarily in black form-fitting clothing with fiery-red hair nearly identical to Ben's own, performing her own technique. Ben carefully watched the image and tried his best to replicate the woman's movements, but he found it difficult to match his hand and footwork.  
The particular form the woman was using was actually one of the seven forms of lightsaber combat, this specific one was Form IV, also known as Ataru. Every lightsaber form had it's focus this one made use of ones physical athleticism and their surroundings, it was in this regard that Ben was having trouble, the form was very active as well as aggressive but relied on coordination, Ben knew how to observe his surroundings and respond to threats, but had trouble integrating the proper motions together.  
Ben continued to replicate the motions from the recording with limited success giving no mind to anything or anyone else not noticing someone else enter.  
"Ben?"  
Ben quickly turned, almost letting out a slight yelp, to find Jedi Master Kyle Katarn staring at him from the doorway.  
"Master Katarn, what are you doing here?"  
"Well, first, I'm the battlemaster of this temple, so its kind of my job to be here. And second, please, it's just Kyle, titles just make my skin crawl."  
Ben slightly grimaced at the suggestion "Your around the same age as my dad, calling you just 'Kyle' would feel awkward. Would work?"  
"If the words 'Mr. Katarn' come out of your mouth again I just might jump out of my skin looking around for my dads ghost!"  
"Was your father a jedi?"  
"He was force-sensitive, in case your wondered where I got it, but no he was NOT a Jedi, or a Sith, he was just a farmer. Now what are you up to?"  
"Practicing, what else would I be doing in here?"  
"Considering the stories your father has told me about you, one can scarcely imagine." Kyle turned towards the projector Ben had set up and realized what he was doing. "Trying to copy your mother?"  
Ben's head sank a little "Yeah, figured the best way to learn the form IV was to study recordings of her. That and, well ,it makes me feel as though she's still teaching me something."  
Kyle let out a small chuckle at this "I see your logic, but your going at it wrong, to be honest."  
"What do you mean?"  
"I have to spell it out? Your trying to learn the form, this recording is from when your mother was already a Master, this is her fully learned. You can't just mimic the motions of a master when you yourself don't know the motions, to someone like her it's easy, like walking, just one foot in front of the other. In short you need to walk before you can run, and she" he then point's to the image of Ben's mother "She is sprinting."  
Ben stopped and considered what he just heard, glancing at the recording, noting how her motions were very fluid, almost as if she were dancing "Guess I was pushing it a little, explains why I'm doing so bad."  
"Now if you wanted to learn that form, she would definitely have been one to teach you, but a recording can't talk you through the fundamentals. It's just an...an echo, no wisdom behind it." Ben nodded slightly but soon formed an almost sullen expression "Something bothering you?"  
"You probing my mind like dad does sometimes?"  
"No, you just look upset and I doubt it's from this endeavor not panning out."  
"No your right, its nothing, just something my dad and I talked about,it's a little personal that's all."  
"I see, say no more. Now I realize it won't quite be the same as what you were trying, but I was your mothers teacher, so I am well versed in Form IV, and I don't know training under your mothers tutor might give you some of her perspective, that would be something at least, right?"  
Ben thought about the offer for a moment before turning off the projection and turning towards the Jedi master "I suppose that could work."

Kyle produced his own lightsaber which like Ben's possessed a blue blade, but had an extended handle that almost resembled to lightsabers joined together, which allowed for it to be comfortably held by both hands "Just follow my motions."  
Kyle went through several basic motions slow enough for Ben to study and memorize, which he then mimicked to the best of his ability. The training session continued like this for a while, Katarn demonstrating proper motions, while Ben replicated his actions, after some time Kyle turned to Ben "Now then let's see if you have a handle on it." He then swung his saber towards Ben, to which he quickly parried, realizing Katarns meaning Ben reciprocated and the do delved into their spar, each using only motions and techniques from Form IV.  
"Your a fast learner aren't you, must get that from your dad."  
"No, probably mom, dad just gave me an example of what not to do if you have a parental disagreement." Kyle did not understand this remark until Ben gestured with his right hand.  
"Oh, you are truly awful, like dealing with your mother all over again."

The two returned to their spar, slowly but gradually increasing the pace in which they moved until eventually it appeared the two actually were locked in combat.  
"You are good Ben, however..." with a quick and fluid motion Kyle was able to knock Ben saber away and point his own at Ben "I AM still the battlemaster."  
Ben clearly looked flustered "Jeez, I thought this was just practice!"  
"Oh, it is but after a while I noticed you were leaving yourself slightly open, the purpose of practice is also to learn your mistakes. Now if I were a betting man, I would say you were distracted, most likely by whatever you said you and your father apparently spoke of."  
"It's nothing I said."  
"It's distracting you. You wanted to learn but your mind isn't here, not completely, if you would like we can call it a day and you can sort this out."  
"...It's fine, but...I have a question for you."  
"Alright, shoot."  
"...Have you ever met ANYONE who just did something truly, for lack of a better term, awful?"  
"Now when you say awful do you mean awful as in sacrificing virgins and eating babies, or awful as in passing gas in an incredibly crowded elevator?"  
"I mean did you ever know someone to do something, to cross a line you never truly thought they could come back from, something irredeemable?"  
"Well, in all honesty, never was fond of Jerec." Ben not recognizing the name gave a clear expression of confusion "Oh right, Jerec was the Inquisitor who murdered my father and first Jedi Master."  
Ben continued to stare maintaining his confused expression "Inquisitor?"  
"Sorry before your time, my apologies. Now you've surely heard of Palpatine right, from your parents?" Ben gave a quick nod "Well, after Palpatine destroyed the former Jedi order he was very weary of force users, he knew it was impractical, and wasteful, to simply exterminate EVERY force-sensitive individual in the galaxy, so he did one of 3 things with them.  
The ones that held the least potential he made his most elite guards, they were a cut above anyone who wasn't a Jedi and at the same time not so strong that those he surrounded himself with wouldn't eventually become a threat.  
Those he saw the MOST potential in he made his own personal assassins, like your mother, who only performed tasks he personally assigned them, and at the same time kept each of their existence from each other.  
Everyone else, made up the inquisitor's, which consisted primarily of former Jedi, in fact one of your fathers earliest apprentices became an inquisitor after Palpatine's return. The inquisitors duties were to hunt down survivors of the Jedi order, or force sensitives that held no allegience, and then either bring them to the dark side or if they refused kill them.  
Jerec, was one such individual, he killed my father for being part of the rebellion, and made it appear as though the rebels had turned of him. And after pursuing him for years he captured my first Jedi master, and my fathers friend, Qu Rahn. "  
"He made you think the rebels murdered your father?"  
"Yep, and at the time **I** was a stormtrooper..."  
"I imagine you omit THAT from your resume'."  
"Indeed, when I heard of my father's death, I killed so many rebels in a gravely misguided belief that in some way I was avenging my father. I even got a medal for it."  
"Oh dear."  
"Yep, and Jerec himself gave it to me, I have no doubt he knew who I was and probably did so out of perverse entertainment."  
"That's almost as bad as what Jacen tried to pull. How'd you learn the truth?"  
"In short, Jan. She always keeps me on the straight and narrow.  
Now when I recieved my training from Qu Rahn it was after his death, his spirit tutored me, not unlike your father and his first master after whom I believe you are named. But, during my training he once told me of his final moments, before Jerec struck him down he said he saw your grandfather One with the force, now before hand Rahn had known your grandfather but not as Anakin Skywalker, but as Vader, and he wasn't... _fond_...of him."  
"Hey if he joined the club he could have gotten a free jacket."  
Kyle let out a chuckle to this remark "Any way, in that moment he said he finally understood something his master, Yoda, had been trying to teach him for some time."  
"What's that?"  
"Noone is irredeemable. And that was something he tried to teach me as well.  
Now eventually Jerec and I duked it out, that fact that I'm still here should tell you who won, but when he was defeated, when he had lost and was at my mercy I would not strike him down, don't get me wrong I most certainly wanted to kill him but no I didn't, not outright. He taunted me with the fact that he murdered my father,but I didn't give in, which given that earlier he had tried to make me kill Jan, well, I deserved a medal for exercising restraint at that point. But no I wasn't about to kill an unarmed defenseless opponent."  
"So what exactly DID you do?"  
"I gave him a choice, I gave him back his weapon, and gave him the option to leave and live another day, or he could die then and there. I gave him a chance, but he was too stubborn to accept defeat and as soon as he had his lightsaber once again he tried to rush me, and in defense of my own life I struck the final blow. I will not kill an unarmed and defenseless person, regardless of what they themselves have done to me, but if someone is stupid enough to rush me then I will defend myself, with lethal force is necessary, and in that particular case with what he himself was capable of, lethal force WAS necessary."  
"Do you think this Jerec was irredeemable?"  
"Well...honestly I'm not too sure, I mean he was an unpleasant and deplorable man. And I won't lie I shed no tears and lost no sleep over his death. But was he truly too far gone? I never saw any semblance of a conscience in him, I think like Palpatine himself that man was too far gone."  
Ben sat an pondered the tale Kyle had just told him, thinking of everyone who he had witnessed commit terrible acts on others Lumiya, Alema Rar, Abeloth, and his own cousin Jacen.  
"Do you believe Jacen was 'too far gone'?"  
Kyle didn't seem surprised by this particular question, it was still a sore area for many, before answering he let out a deep sigh and crossed his arms "I will admit there was a time when I thought so. But to be fair he had just murdered my favorite student, and good friend, then he stabbed me in the lung and left me in rancid sewer water, and **THAT** wasn't even the worst part of that day!"  
Ben shuddered at the thought of what could have been worse than that "And what was the worst part of that day?"  
"Do you have any idea the earful I got from Jan when I got home?"Ben could not help but laugh at this remark. "Oh you laugh but she can put the fear of any god into a man mark my words!  
But in all seriousness, I once hated him. After everything , the history and shared experiences between him and the order, the things he did were...unconscionable. **BUT** I have to think that anyone who was looking death in the face, and chose to instead save his own child and the woman he loved rather than save himself, that person couldn't have been truly lost. No, I think there was still some part of Jacen in there, a small part but nonetheless."  
"Then...do you think he could have been saved?"  
"Maybe. Jacen was troubled after the war, and we still don't know EVERYTHING that happened during his five year journey. We should have been more sensitive to the fact that he was still sorting some things out, and he was vulnerable. If we had tried to help him sooner then maybe there was a chance, maybe he wouldn't have murdered thousands, or killed Mara. Mara is perhaps less a victim of Caedus and more a victim of our obliviousness, we all saw he was headed down a road that put him at odds with everyone else but only SHE saw how lost he was, she should not have faced him alone, we all should have been there for HIM _and_ for HER."

Ben leaned against a nearby wall and thought back to when his mother tried to convince him of who Jacen really was, and how he ignored her. Kyle was right she shouldn't have face Jacen alone, but she did. After a second Kyle walked toward Ben and leaned against the same wall next to him.  
"Your mother ever tell you of the time she saved me?"  
Ben looked up at him and shook his head, though the idea didn't shock him, he held his mother in high regard.  
"Back when she was training under me I was sent to investigate an old sith temple but the Dark energies contained in the temple got to me, corrupted me! When I did not check in Mara was sent to discern my whereabouts. When she found me I was immersed in the dark side I was a completely different person."  
Ben simply stared in shock trying to imagine what seemed to him to be an improbable scenario.  
"When we saw each other we fought, and again and again she tried to get through to me, eventually she holstered her weapon and refused to do me harm, no matter the threat I posed at that particular moment."  
"Did that work?"  
"Surprisingly yes, in that moment I realized the dark side wasn't for me, and I rebuked it.  
Even though Mara was my student, she taught me something, she taught me something very similar to what Yoda tried to teach my own master, she taught me that sometimes people need to be saved from themselves, even if they believe they don't need help, sometimes people don't realize they are losing who they are and they need help. From t hat time on your mother and I referred to each other as both Master AND apprentice to each other, O taught her how to be a Jedi, she taught me how **NOT** to be a Sith. Now does all of this answer your original question?"  
"It...it helps yes."  
"Now that question wasn't random, what's on your mind?"  
"It's...personal, just it's something I've been mulling over for some time and my dad asked me to think about it for a while, give it some actual thought."  
"Is there someone you think needs saving?"  
Ben could tell from his tone he knew the answer and he knew whom Ben was inquiring about, and after some thought he had the answer for Kyle's question, and was perhaps closer to answering his father's query "Yes, yes I think there is. Thank you for taking the time to talk."  
"Always happy to help."

Ben stood straight up and walked back to the center of the room and ignited his lightaber once again.  
"Wanna continue practicing?"  
Kyle laughed and once again produced his own lightsaber "Sure I got time to stomp you again."  
"Oh, I can see modesty is a virtue you value."

The two Jedi resumed there practice for a time, this time Ben displayed better control and more attention to his presant endevour.

Before long however another entered the room.  
"Kyle are you beating up my son again?"  
Ben and Kyle looked to see Luke Skywalker standing in the doorway with an amused expression on his face.  
"Well you should know how much fun it is Luke."  
"He was teaching me Form IV the same way he and Mom used to practice."  
Hearing this made Luke's expression soften "I think that's good, very good. Now Ben, I needed to talk to you." Gesturing for Ben to follow him while turning to Kyle while respectfully bowing his head slightly an action Katarn mimicked "Kyle."  
"Luke." He then turned toward the young Skywalker and gave a slight parting wave "It was a good talk Ben, I'll see you later." To which Ben gave an acknowledging nod to.

Luke led his son out into the hall and gestured for him to follow him as they continued down the hall. "So what did you and Kyle speak of?"  
"Some stuff about his past, and Mom."  
"I see. I noticed a holo-projector in the room what was that for?"  
"Trying to study Mom, didn't go as well as I'd hoped, kinda hard to keep up with."  
"Yes she was, in more ways than one.  
Anyway I wanted to talk to you because I had something I needed you to do."  
"Alright shoot."  
"I would like you to go to Corucant to offer some aid to Saba."  
"Does Saba need help with something?"  
"She and the other Barabel Jedi are part of the relief effort to hurry along the damage done by Abeloth, it's been a while but the damage is still great."  
"Okay, not that I'm complaining but why are you sending me specifically?"  
"Well the answer is three-fold, they need all the help they can get BUT, I would like you check in and see how things are at the temple there, seeings as how it is only occupied by the Barabel Jedi I fear they are understaffed and Saba had never been one to admit when she needs help. And the third reason is I need you to help her with any immediate matter, help clear her schedule."  
"Is something up?"  
"There is a matter in which the entire council is meeting for, it's nothing bad or anything, but occasionally we do all need to meet to address certain matters."  
"And there's no reason she can't just 'holo' herself into the meeting?"  
"Well, while Saba has never been known for being sentimental, we do feel she would wish to personally be a part of this meeting."  
"Alright, I'll do it. Any particular timetable on this?"  
"It's no current rush, but some time soon, you are free to tie up any matters at hand.  
Now on another note, have you thought of what we talked about?"  
"I have."  
"And have you come to an answer?"  
"Not just yet, but soon."  
"Please give it time, I know this is an important and personal matter for you, don't rush it." With that he gave his son a comforting pat on the shoulder and a warm smile. "Now I'll see you later?"  
"Yep."  
With their exchange over the two simply parted back to their own respective matters.

 **A/N DEAR LORD IT'S DONE!  
To everyone who reads these I apologize for taking forever and a half to update, but a plethora of issues have obstructed any progress.  
** **Things have been crazy with work, then there was a death in the family, and I haven't been well lately, and as such I haven't been able to focus on this regardless of how hard I tried. So the past couple of weeks have been nothing short of FUCKED. I sincerely hope I will get back to a fairly regular schedule of updating.**


	9. Chapter 9

Within the secluded hotel room Vestara had finally managed some form of peaceful undisturbed rest, having found some relief to the pain in her legs and having placated her mind enough to focus solely on sleep, not at all concerned with the goings on of others outside the room Vestara was was finally calm ad composed unaware, however, that at that preset moment someone was approaching their door.  
A small click as the door unlocked went unnoticed, as did the slow turning to the door handle until in one quick motion the door swung open, bathing the sleeper in sunlight as the at present unknown visitor shouted something.  
"SO WHO WANTS SOME GIRL SCOUT COOKIES?!"  
Startled immensely Vestara responded in the only way she could think, with a wave of her arms and an arcing flash of light that caused the the figure to quickly duck.  
"I thought I told you NO LIGHTNING!"  
Vestara immediately recognized the voice now that she was more awake, or rather more awake than she was seconds prior.  
"Mirta?" she quickly rubbed her eyes to help them focus as the figure stood up and came into better view "That IS you, right?"  
"YES! And like I said NO LIGHTNING you know I have a bad history with Sith!"  
"Oh, I'm sorry, I finally get some sound sleep that doesn't involve dreams that are cryptic or inappropriately erotic..."  
"What was that last part?"  
"Shut up! And after finally getting my brain to shut up and my legs to relax, I am peacefully resting and you just come in shouting... something about cookies? And you thought what? I'd scream like some little girl, hide under the covers, and soil myself? I'm technically in hiding AND I'm post-surgery! Just WHAT did _YOU_ think that _I_ would do, huh what? So _you_ tell _me_ who's the idiot!?"  
"...Shut up, your logic renders me incapable of being angry at you, STOP IT! Now let's go back to the inappropriately erotic dreams" leaning forward and rest her elbows of the foot rest of the bed and rest her head in her hands "Because that sound like a scintillating discussion!"  
"Here's a thought ,NO!"  
"Come on, your brain getting some on account of your body's crippled?"  
"How about we discuss you?"  
"Well nothing erotic in my brain, appropriate or otherwise, so now that that's settled back to you!"  
"I hate you, and what I meant was did you go out and accomplish what you needed to, did you do **ANYTHING** productive?"  
"Well, since you asked yes, the past couple of days have been what I would call productive, things seem to be going well at the moment."  
"That's nice, now if you would kindly allow me to go back to sleep, you can tell me all about your magical misadventures later." Vestara lied back down and attempted to resume her sleep but Mirta quickly yanked the covers off of her.  
"NOPE! You are getting up now."  
"Oh, that's a laugh 'Getting up', to a cripple, seriously? And just where am I expected to go exactly?"  
"I have a cab waiting for us outside ready to take us back to the hospital to see about getting those metal pins removed from your legs. Once those are out I estimate your good to travel provided you don't do any physical walking for awhile."  
"Figures, for the first time since you left I finally get relaxed without the aid of mind-numbing medication and now I have to go BACK to the hospital. And how exactly do you expect us to travel? I don' t think _Ship_ will be up to transporting you wherever you may need for your search for a cure."  
"As I said I have had a productive past couple of days, **I** got a ship of my own, and this one doesn't talk nor is it opinionated!"  
"And how may I ask did you acquire this means of transportation?"  
"Technically it's not mine, but the crew does work for me so I as able to indefinitely procure there services. And I will be happy to explain everything once you are dressed and on your way to have your legs fixed."  
"Uuuuugh! Fine! Beat's being stuck in this room for much longer."  
Within a short expanse of time Vestara was able to clothe herself and situate herself within her wheel chair and was quickly wheeled out by Mirta towards a cab waiting patiently near the front lobby of the hotel.  
Shorty after being seated within the vehicle and heading on their way Vestara turned to address her companion "So what exactly _DID_ you do?"  
"Why the sudden interest?"  
"Technically what you do affects me, you were the last person I was seen with, so IF anyone is searching for me and they recognized you, your activities could impact me heavily for the entirety of our 'partnership'. So I would like to keep appraised to your going-on's."  
"Well fair enough. First I went and met with one of the Mando under my command, we talked, straightened some things out, and while she was preparing a meeting between everyone else I bombed a spaceport!"  
Vestara quickly jolt her head towards Mirta and stared utterly perplexed at her "Your...not joking are you?"  
With a large grin on her face Mirta responded "Nope!"  
"May I ask WHY you saw fit to engage in pseudo-terrorist activities?"  
"Because, do you remember the shootout that was taking place when we got here, made a convenient excuse for why you had been shot?" Vestara gave a quick nod "Well the men responsible for the shootout were at that spaceport, I bombed their ship to keep them from leaving... and knock them out, a couple of them however required a little more...tenderizing."  
"May I ask why were you searching for those men in the first place?"  
"The obscene reward for their capture!"  
"Figures."  
"Then when we got to the meeting, I gave a nice heartfelt speech about current state of affairs, asked that they return to our home-world, and beat the ever living daylights out of everyone who had a problem with me!"  
"That why you have a black eye and partially swollen lip?"  
"Yes, I'm almost surprised you didn't ask about that sooner."  
"A guy in his seventies broke your nose, I just assumed anyone could kick your ass." Mirta not taking kindly to this remark quickly slapped Vestara across her wounded knee "KKKKKKKKFFFFFAAAAA! YOU EVIL HEINOUS BITCH!"  
"Yes. Yes I am. And do not forget it, I have spent the majority of my life perfecting the art of being completely and utterly spiteful. And look we're here."  
" .YOU."

Mirta aided Vestara into her wheelchair and pushed her into the the hospital towards the front reception, the entire the the still angry Vestara didn't speak once until they reached the reception desk "I have metal objects in my legs. .OUT!"  
The receptionist, a human female, stared confused at the two for a moment "Beg pardon?"  
"What my socially challenged friend here **meant** to say was, she recently had surgery to repair her legs after she was shot, you know that shootout a while back." The woman a gave a quick understanding nod "Now, her injuries weren't as bad as they could have been but, they did have to leave metal pins in her legs, she has an appointment today to have them removed, and she is antsy to get back on her feet so she may chase me, for the purpose of eventually strangling me."  
The receptionist stared with her head cocked for a moment before recognizing the sarcasm in Mirta's voice "Okay, and her name?"  
"Sevara Raine."  
"...Okay I see her in the system I will inform the doctor so he can come and take her back. If you two could just wait over there" Gesturing towards some nearby benches.

Mirta wheeled Vestara over to where she pointed and proceeded to wait for the doctor.  
"You are aware, I don't actually have to stand, or walk to strangle you?"  
Mirta shot her head towards Vestara to see a mischievous grin "That isn't funny, I've been on the receiving end of that before, NOT funny." Vestara's grin quickly faded.  
"Sorry forgot, spotty past with Sith, just a bit of fun, meant nothing by it."  
Mirta gave a small nod that suggested she held no ill will but the two sat in awkward silence as they waited which was eventually broken when they heard a voice call Vestara's alias. "Sevara Raine" They both turned and chuckled at the irony as it just so happen to be the same aqua skinned Twi'lek doctor they encountered when they had first arrived on this world.  
Upon reaching the doctor she turned to them and gave a look towards Vestara "Your not going to grab my Lekku again are you? These are actually a sensitive part of our bodies."  
"I keep saying I don't remember that!"  
"She can't handle post-surgery meds."  
"Whatever" Turning towards Mirta "Now are you in anyway family?"  
"Me? No."  
"...Life partner?"  
"WHAT?! NO!"  
"You don't have to sound so offended."  
"First of all Shut up. Second don't you have a boyfriend? Third I like'em tall and blonde and MALE. Ok, I'm not a relative and I'm not her life partner."  
"We're just staying in a dingy hotel room together, she is the epitome of romance."  
"Doctor please get to the point of your question before I commit a murder before your very eyes."  
Trying desperately to hold back her laughter she turned to answer "If you aren't family or...if you aren't family, then you will have to remain out here while we examine her and prepare her for her procedure, and we will inform you when she is finished, it shouldn't take too long."  
"I understand."  
Mirta turned to sit back down as Vestara was wheeled away and noticed one of the Mandalorians from the ship which she now traveled was now waiting by the door.  
"So, what brings you here, uncle-cousin-nephew whatever adjective I use to describe you?"  
"Rook, you can call me by my first name. Now about your friend, why are we waiting on her? What significance is she in our matters?"  
"She helped me before, but she was wounded, so I gave my word in return I would see her taken care of, unfortunately her medical expenses are denting my funds."  
"I wasn't aware that the amount of money we possess was such a large concern at the moment."  
"Just what do you think is going to happen when we find someone who can create a cure? That they're gonna make all we need just out of the goodness of their hearts? Chances are ,unless extenuating circumstances enter in, whoever we find is going to want to be paid for their service, and if the personal nature of our objective becomes known they will most assuredly bleed us for every credit they can, so yes funds are always important, until we are relaxing back home, money is a very important resource."  
"And yet your paying out of pocket for a 'freinds' medical expenses, why?"  
"As I said she helped me and I am seeing to it she is taken care of, and she is going to pay me back, we have established that amongst ourselves."  
"See you know her, YOU can perhaps vouch for her, but me, us, we don't know her at all, and given how **spectacular** the debacle with the Qrepths went, the rest of us are a little weary of allowing new faces in to our personal space."  
"What? You don't trust me?"  
"Ahahahahahaha ohnonononono, ahem, No no, see you may technically be my superior officer, your grandfather may technically be my employer, and we may technically be related but no, no Gev I don't trust you or your judgement, so I have to ask who she is and how she fits into everything beyond doing you a favor in the past. "  
"Her name is Sevara Raine. And she is formerly, and I need to stress that **FORMERLY** a Sith."  
Rook grimaced at the sound of that word "Our people and the Sith have a long and not too pleasant history with the Sith, large contributing factor to alot of the galaxy not liking Mandalorians. What makes her different that you trust her?"  
"Allow to set the record straight, I DON'T trust her, but she owes me and she was born with a unique skillset that could make things considerably easier for all of us. As for what makes her different, I suppose, the argument of nature versus nurture." Mirta briefly paused to see Rook didn't quite understand the reference before continuing "Most cases the Sith our people have dealt with were once regular people, nice law-abiding citizens, then one day, something happened, something bad, and they snapped, they broke in a way that they couldn't come back from, they reached a point no one could help them and became walking nightmares. Most cases they were regular people that were sought out and had some dark and twisted freak break there minds until they were just drones.  
Her case, her father was Sith. So she was raised to take after daddy, its the life she was born into, the life she was introduced into but from what I've heard, and the little I've gleamed, she doesn't take after daddy."  
"And how are you so sure?"  
"That is personal, not my story to tell.  
But she is no longer affiliated with them, in fact they want her dead from what I here. But the fact remains she could be useful in cutting through who is being honest with us and who's trying to use us for their own gain. She also could be useful in 'persuading' some less than willing parties."  
"While I won't argue that she could be of some assistance, who she is might not be so warmly welcomed by everyone else back on the ship, so I'm going to leave you to explain. **AND** her actions, what she does, that is your responsibility, whatever she does _you_ are accountable."  
"Expected no less."

With their discussion Rook simply gave a small nod and departed leaving Mirta to wait for Vestara in solitude. Shortly after however Vestara was wheeled out by the doctor, Mirta immediately took note of her face which held an utterly disturbed expression, piquing her curiosity.  
"Are you okay"  
"NO!" Shaking her head vigorously  
"What happened?"  
"Do you know what they did?" Mirta shook her head "They didn't need to put me under they just put a local anesthetic in my legs. Then they...for lack of a better term, inflated my knee and ankle, then they stuck a camera in there so they could look around .LEGS. Then the reached in and removed the pins, it was all pretty fast. BUT! I SAW INSIDE _MYSELF_ , AND THEY INFLATED PARTS OF _ME_!"  
"That all sounds obscenely unpleasant."  
"Tell me anything, talk to me about ANYTHING to distract my mind from that!"  
"Okay when we get back to the ship, you might not be warmly welcomed."  
"Why not? Iv'e not done anything! What did you do?"  
"Nothing! Its because of your connections, former or otherwise, to the Sith. Every crew member is in the same predicament as I am."  
"Wait I thought it only affected people related to your grandfather."  
"Yyyyeah, my grandfather technically has ALOT of brothers."  
"Define ' _alot_ '."  
"a couple...dozen...thousand. An army in the most literal sense." An absolutely puzzled expression stretched across Vestara's face as she could find no hint or glimmer or sarcasm or humor in Mirta's voice, Mirta however seemed to enjoy seeing her rather humorous confusion "I'm gonna go pay the bill, get whatever meds you need and sign you out while you wrap your head around that."

After a brief period of time Mirta returned to her companion who still appeared rather puzzled at her previous statment, much to Mirta's continued amusement. Mirta began wheeling Vestara out before addressing her. "Vestara how good is your knowledge of history. Recent history."  
"Nonexistent."  
"Alright, so the term 'Clone wars' means nothing to you" Vestara shook her head slightly " Okay. Back ,before my grandfather was born actually, a group of Separatists who were a part of a Confederacy of Independent systems began taking hostile actions towards certain key worlds of the Republic, their explanation for their actions was minor things like 'trade disputes' and such. In reality they were following the orders of the current Sith Lord. After their first attempts failed they spent ten years building an army of battle droids in secret and declaring their intent to bring down the Republic and create a new better Government. Mind you this was all rubbish they were doing this because a couple of frightening Sith told them to and they were too scared and greedy to say no. But given that the Separatists did possess almost unlimited resources they could build as many droid to fight their battles as they needed to, and an army that can just be rebuilt after every battle, is a frightening thing in the long run. So when they officially declared war on the Republic, the Republic's greatest concern was their lack of a military force that could compete with the shear numbers.  
You are keeping up with all of this right?" Vestara responded with a quick nod allowing her to go on.  
"Now have you ever heard of Kaminoans?" Vestara shook her head "They are a race that has a remarkable talent for cloning, and they seem to enjoy it. A member of the Jedi council sought them out and hired them to create an army, a clone army.  
But apparently he died before they could find someone to be used as the template, but one of the Sith commanding the Separatists, who happened to have once been a well respected Jedi and his conversion to the Sith was not public knowledge, a man called Dooku, took over the project. He personally sought out my Great-Grandfather Jango Fett and hired him to be the template for the clone army."  
"Okay I can tell where this is going, how does your Great-grandfather getting cloned result in your grandfather having **LOTS** of siblings."  
"Because, Jango Fett was a superb bounty hunter from what I hear, but not alot of time for things like starting a family. So the only price he named for the Kaminoans to use his DNA and regularly extract samples, was he wanted a clone with NO modifications. No accelerated ageing, no enhancements, nothing. One that would grow naturally."  
"He wanted a son. Your Grandfather is just his clone?"  
"NO! He is not 'JUST HIS CLONE' Jango raised him, fed him, clothed, taught him, they were father and son, maybe not technically in a biological sense, BUT they were father and son."  
"Sorry I seemed to have hit a nerve."  
"Its...fine."  
"So the Sith had a droid army they could just build, and the republic had a clone army they could just grow?"  
"Pretty much and the various factions of the clone army were placed under the command of Jedi."  
"So it was just another Jedi-Sith war."  
"At the heart of it yes. And during all of this the Sith were paying Jango to kill Jedi, which went well until one decapitated him right in front of Grandfather. Hens Grandpa's general dislike for Jedi."  
"So what happened?"  
"The Jedi eventually defeated the Separatists and killed Dooku. All seemed well, however during this whole conflict a certain chancellor Sheev Palpatine, who advocated peace and non-violence and was deemed by the people to be a pure, virtuous man, worthy of leading the Republic, was given supreme authority over the entire Republic and named Emperor. Wanna know the punch line?"  
"Sure."  
"Palpatine was Dooku's Sith master, and the Sith lord of that time, the entire war was orchestrated to make him LEGALLY the ruler of the galaxy! Then he activated all of these nasty chips implanted in the brains of all of the clones which made them kill anyone they identified as Jedi."  
"OH...wow."  
"And thus the old Jedi order burned to the ground, in order for Skywalker to create a new one, something had to happen to the old one. And once this was done all of the clone troopers were discharged from duty, considering how they were appalled at their betraying the Jedi, and were allowed to return to Mandalore, seeing as how technically they were of Mandalorian decent. Thus an actual percentage of the worlds population are all closely related. By now all the clones are assuredly dead but their descendants remain, among them, me. And now all of them can't return home because of another Sith. And the entire crew of our ship is descended from the Clones."  
Vestara put her faced in her face and groaned loudly"Oh they are going to LOVE ME!"

 **A/N STILL ALIVE BITCHES, I realize I keep apologizing for the long gaps between updates, the reason for this one was honestly I lost access to the internet, so not my fault.  
I have realized that when I declared my intent to do a single chapter a week, I might have been biting of more that I could chew  
**

 **Now I would like to say something probably should have said before, but I am not one of those people who will just pack up and drop a story if I get bored of it or if life keeps my schedule busy, if I start something I finish it, and this I WILL finish, there may be some gaps here and there between updates but yes I'm going to see this through.**


	10. Chapter 10

Several days had passed since both Vestara and Mirta finally departed the world Ship had deposited them so that Vestara might receive medical treatment, during this time Vestara had acquainted herself with the inside of the vessel in which they were traveling, which she had come to know was called the 'Kandosii' the Mandalorian word for _indomitable_. She had also in this time been introduced to the crew and, true to her and Mirta's predictions, she was not so warmly welcomed, though no one acted out towards her she could very well feel that there was an amount of hostility directed at her. As a result of this she and Mirta wound up sharing quarters, much to Mirta's chagrin as she had wished for her own personal space, but Vestara pleaded the point that she didn't feel secure all by herself in an entire ship full of people who significantly loathed Sith, at last not until she was in proper physical form again. Vestara also made a note to research the event Mirta described to her, 'The clone wars' , she deemed part of the story to be somewhat outlandish, such as an entire army of clones, but true to Mirta's tale the events happened almost exactly as she described them when Vestara inquired about the details history couldn't verify she explained that since several of her family members were present for some of these events they were personally documented.  
During their continued journey Mirta and they other clone descendants sought possible solution's to the problem with their home world, so far they held no luck but Mirta made a point to explain to Vestara she would be called upon in the event that anything promising turned up, to which Vestara had been working on her physical rehabilitation so she may begin walking again.

While Vestara practiced standing using nearby objects to support herself Mirta was sitting nearby reading something from a data-pad rather intently, once she seemed satisfied with what she read she turned to address her roommate.  
"So how exactly is your standing/walking going?"  
"I can stand and walk as well as someone who has just done horrible things to their liver."  
"Do you think you could pretend at all that you weren't...structurally compromised? That is if circumstance prompted you to?"  
"Why?!"  
"Might have found someone who can help, and your coming with."  
"Okay you gonna have to explain that to me, I mean before when you were by yourself and had no other form of assistance I could understand why my presence might have been necessary. But now not so much, you have an entire vessel full of people apparently related to you, who don't like me by the way, and a consistent means of transportation. So what exactly do I bring to the table."  
Mirta's answer to the question was a very simple one she simply raised in her hand a small metal cylindrical object that Vestara recognized as her lightsaber, which Mirta had yet to relinquish back to her, and waved it slightly.  
"I'm coming because I can use the force."  
"A rare skill-set that no one else aboard possesses. Now we all pride ourselves on being decent at telling when one is lying to us, but it's my understanding that you can actually TELL if someone is being dishonest, that right?"  
Vestara gave a heavy sigh "People trained with the force can sense emotions like dishonesty and yes, assuming the individual isn't trained in hiding or concealing their thoughts I could theoretically sense when someone is lying. It mostly works by gleaming what their thinking about at that moment."  
"Are you saying you can read minds?"  
"No...not exactly, if one doesn't know how to hide their thoughts I can glimpse what's on the top of their mind, but only what they are thinking about at that moment, it's a good interrogation technique, you ask someone a question and they think about the answer reflexively even if they are trying to keep you from learning it, they are in some way thinking about it."  
Mirta stared somewhat bitterly her eyes narrowing as her mind shifted towards a very painful moment in her life. "Then answer me this. The Sith lord who infected Mandalore's atmosphere, he interrogated me, he tortured me, he wanted information and at first I would not talk, not until he threatened to release the nano-killer. When I told him everything he wanted to know he didn't believe me, he insisted I had to be lying, so finally I told him what he wanted to hear, the answer he wanted, it wasn't true but he wanted to hear it, then despite apparently believing me he **STILL** release the virus. So why **WHY** couldn't he just gleam that I was telling the truth the first time?"  
"That depends what was he asking you about?"  
"It was when we were trying to kill him, I was part of a strike-force that besides myself consisted of several Mandalorians and Jaina Solo, during the fight Jaina severed his arm, but I was captured when he retreated. He sat there and asked again and again how many Jedi came with me that day. When I finally did answer I told him the truth, the only Jedi that came to kill him was his sister, but he insisted that it was Master Skywalker who attacked him."  
"Is it possible he actually WAS there and you just weren't privy to it?"  
"No. Jaina made it clear Skywalker wouldn't be joining us on the mission."  
"So...why did he think it was him?"  
"Caedus, the Sith lord we were fighting, he...he murdered Skywalkers wife, Ben's mother. I guess perhaps Caedus couldn't fathom the idea that Skywalker wouldn't come."  
Vestara was only half paying attention now, she stared wide-eyed at the realization that she knew absolutely nothing about Ben's mother, she only ever saw him with his father, and he never even referred to his mother. The idea that she might be passed entered her mind, but she never asked, she realized that they weren't together as a couple long enough to learn these sort of details of his life. Wishing to take her mind off of this somewhat depressing thought she turned back to Mirta.  
"So why exactly didn't he come on the mission? Luke I mean."  
"Jaina was vague on that, something about how although Caedus needed to be stopped, needed to be killed, if he or his son did it, it wouldn't be because they needed to, but because they wanted revenge. And so they would risk becoming Dark themselves."  
 _More proof that he and I are so completely different._ Vestara thought to herself "So what did you tell him, Caedus?"  
"I eventually told him Skywalker was there just to satisfy the lunatic, but he still went through with his threat."  
"Question, would you describe that man as having been paranoid?" Mirta gave a very heavy nod "My guess is he was so paranoid he couldn't comprehend the thought of Skywalker not seeking vengeance, and when he interrogated you, he probably thought you were still simply hiding your thoughts even though you were telling the truth, but when you finally told him what he wanted, he sensed you were lying and you know the rest. I don't think there was a way to win in your circumstance."  
"Nothing more reassuring than knowing I was screwed from the start."

Vestara continued her standing exercises for a short while longer, while Mirta went back to reading her data-pad. After a short period Vetsara sat down and remebering their original conversation turned towards her silent companion "So, where exactly are we going? Who are we going to meet?"  
"Ah yes, we are going to see a bio-weapon's expert named Ord Palagus."  
"His name sounds like a vegetable."  
"Anyway, he presently resides in a space station in a nearby system, given his line of work he isn't actually allowed to work planet-side. And he does freelance work for several planets within the system in which he resides, by not officially aligning himself to any particular government he maintains a diverse clientele, and because he isn't aligned with anyone, in the event that something goes horribly wrong as a result of his work, the governments have their scapegoat. So while he holds no personal loyalty he knows better than to rip people off. "  
"You said 'bio-weapons expert' what's that mean?"  
"Bio and Chemical warfare are hardly new, and when someone goes and makes some new weapon that will melt your skin off, they give it to someone like him to study it, figure out what it's made of, and develop safeguards or possible antigens to these weapons. However since he is technically freelance anyone can procure his services, albeit for a slightly higher cost that his traditional customers. We have a sample of the nano-killer in the cargo hold which we want him to study , and **YOU** are going to carry it."  
"Why me?!"  
"Because if it breaches your the only one on this whole ship that it WON'T kill."  
"Nice to feel important."  
"Not like you'll be in any danger, NOW, about your appearance."  
Vestara gave a weary glare "What...about my appearance?"  
"You don't look like you even remotely belong in this crowd."  
"Technically I don't."  
"Now if we go around with someone who looks out of place, and it gets out your Sith, people will think we don't trust them."  
"Which you don't."  
"Yes, but we don't advertise our mistrust to everybody, or they wouldn't consider doing business with us. Now what do you think the impression Palagus is going to get when we show up with a human lie detector?"  
"So what do you plan to do about my appearance?"  
"For starters your clothes." After finishing her statement Mirta walked over to the room's closet and dragged out a trunk over to Vestara before opening it "You are going to wear this."  
Vestara peered into the trink to see it held a suit of Mandalorian armor, intended for a woman based on the curvature of the breastplate, similar to what Mirta wore albeit a size or two smaller and an almost black shade of dark grey. "Where did you get that?"  
"It's mine, I wore it like five or so years ago when I was 18."  
"Why do you have two sets of armor?"  
"I keep it as a spare to use if my current one gets damaged and I need protection. And also I think you will need this." After finishing her statement Mirta tossed a small object towards Vestara which she caught easily upon examing it Vestara realized the object was a small crystal, pitch black in color.  
"What is this?"  
"A working lightsaber crystal."  
Vestara looked up to realize Mirta was holding out her Lightsaber towards her, Vestara readily accepted the item in question before asking her query "Where did you get it?"  
"A member of the crew had it, something about the old republic, a horny guy with no legs decapitating some other guy, and some Jedi's dead girlfriend, to be honest I wasn't fully paying attention. Point is that it still works, and let's face it, a person walking around with a red-blade kinda screams one thing. It will help keep people from knowing who you are."  
"A black crystal? Kinda _**DARK**_ don't you think."  
"Hey apparently it's original owner was a Jedi so, you should pass for one if need arises."  
Vestara looked at the dark crystal, then the rather dark colored armor, then at her own black clothes. Sith traditionally wore black as a way of broadcasting their connection to the dark side of the force, while Jedi traditionally wore light colored clothes, and while Vestara generally casual clothing in lieu of traditional robes, they were still black. "Is all this some sort of jab at my choice in clothes?"  
"Now would I do that?"  
"Do I have to do all of this?"  
"Yes, if you want to be of some use you have to look the part, now if you like can explain to the rest of the crew you don't feel like helping, and maybe we can get your flying metal friend to pick you up." Vestara stared somewhat confused the statement. "Hey I was kidding I'm not gonna sick the crew on you."  
"Were you kidding about _Ship_?"  
"You didn't honestly think he...it...wasn't following us did you, we've picked him up on radar a couple of times."  
"I...don't wish to go anywhere with _Ship_ right now. Not until I figure some things out."  
"That's fine and all, but you still need to change."  
"And how exactly is this going to help in the long run? I mean I can still barely walk or stand without my legs buckling underneath me. Forget me dressing suspiciously, what are they gonna think of a Mando with equilibrium issues?"  
"Pretend, make it look like your fine, take your pain meds, I don't care BUT I will not be conned again. Not on something so personal."

Mirta exited the room to give Vestara privacy too change, the armor Mirta provided wasn't as padded or reinforced as much as the one she wore now, essentially it was a thick t-shirt with armor attached to the front and back of the upper torso and collar bone, with pauldron's attached as well, however the sleeves did not cover her entire arms and had no protective armor on them at all, and the abdominal area was exposed as well. The pants themselves had little in the way of protective covering, but from what she could tell Mandalorians didn't seem to emphasize armor on their leggings, probably to prevent and impeding of their range of motion in their legs, the leggings Mirta had given her only had covering in the knees ,a detail Vestara was thankful for, and the groin area, which suit of Mandalorian style armor she had seen so far had armor in that area, the boots themselves though were armored , another thing she enjoyed as it covered her ankles, thus ensuring each of her healing injuries were covered and protected.  
After fitting the armor on she noticed that while it seemed to be about her size it still felt loose, likely a result of Mirta possessing slightly more muscle than Vestara, and it was fitted to her specifically.  
Vestara then turned her attention to her lightsaber, she didn't like the idea of simply inserting a crystal she had never seen before and had not yet had a chance to examine to ensure it would function properly, but it was perhaps time she accepted that at least for the time being she wasn't acting in the capacity of a Sith. Any Sith she had ever been aligned with now hated her and most definitely wished her dead, and the new unheard of faction of the Sith _Ship_ wished for her to join were a complete mystery to her, she didn't know them and so for all intents and purposes they were not her allies, they were not her friends, they were nothing to her and as she held no bond to them she honestly couldn't say she truly was a Sith, not right now at least. To this point she must stop presenting herself as a Sith  
and so a crimson blade was no longer needed.  
She picked up her Lightsaber and using the force levitated it in front of her, with small gestures of her hands the components at the top end of the lightsaber detached themselves until the slot where the crystal rested was exposed, with another small gesture of her hand the crimson crystal removed itself and floated down into her hand, meanwhile the black crystal floated towards the slot where it's predecessor previously rested and inserted itself. With one larger gesture form both of hr hands the remaining components each aligned perfectly and clicked back into place. Vestara lightly shook the object to ensure no pieces were out of place or loose, once satisfied the lightsaber had been reconstructed without error she held it straight and clicked the activation panel.  
With a momentary brightness the blade of plasma immediately emitted from the opening without any discernible difficulty, Vestara stared for a moment at the blade, it was differant not just in color but how it glowed. Traditionally as Vestara had seen lightsabers emitted blades the color of their crystal but the center, the core of the blade was always a bright white. With this crystal the blade was technically white but with a thick pitch black core, and the blade as a whole did not emit that much light, in fact it almost seemed to darken the area around it.  
"And this once belonged to a Jedi? Was black their favorite color or did they just have issues? As far a s hiding my past as a Sith, I think she could have done a little better."

Before finishing completely she thought of what Mirta had said about _Ship_ following them, it honestly didn't surprise her, after spending roughly around a week recovering and then left without so much as a word to _Ship_ , she expected that he wouldn't be pleased as he had already made it clear he wasn't too keen on the idea of her halting their journey to even take the time to recover from her injuries. As much as _Ship_ seemed to hold some regard for her it only seemed to extend to how useful she could be to the Sith, after all that's what he was, a tool for the Sith. She thought about how he called her a Sith lord, it was title at one point she might have coveted, but now not so much. She looked at herself in the mirror and thought of where she was now, on the run from both Jedi and Sith alike, dressing like a Mandalorian as a means of concealing her identity, even disguising her lightsaber. Here she was traveling with Mirta because she saw no real alternative at the moment, save for an option she new little of. She thought about this unknown faction of the Sith _Ship_ seemed so insistent on her joining, perhaps they would welcome her, perhaps there truly was a place for her with them.  
But they were unknown to her, and at this juncture in her life the unknown was quite a frightening thing, and whatever frightend her she wanted to generally avoid.  
Once she had wanted nothing more than to become a Master of the Sith, a fact she suspects was what drew _Ship_ to her, then when she received some recognition when she was given a title above master, she doubted it was what she wanted anymore.  
She remembered the young woman she referred to as 'First', the first person she murdered, she did so not because she needed to but rather because she simply wanted to, she wanted to kill somebody that day, the young woman didn't want to die and had done much to ensure her own survival but it was all for naught when she was seen by Vestara that day. Vestara had been raised to be a killer and had taken to it so much she craved the sense of fulfillment she thought she might feel from actually taking another's life. But now as she was would she do the same?  
" _Probably._ " she thought " _But not for the same reasons._ " If she was as she is now when she met that girl she might still take her life, not out of pure self-centered malice but rather self-preservation born of fear of what the other Sith might do if they ever learned she had spared that young woman. Then when she realized she never learned her name _Ship_ told her to give the woman a name, as if to lay some sort of claim of ownership over another's life. Vestara was almost disgusted at the thought of her past self thinking about how absentmindedly murderous she was " _But have I improved at all? After all in the same situation I might still not have spared that woman's life. Does it make much difference that it would be because I needed to or felt that I needed to, rather than wanted to? Am I any better?_ "  
She once again took a look at herself in the mirror "I am no Sith lord. Certainly not as I am now."  
She took a moment to examine the pouched attached to the belt she was now wearing when she noticed one in the back large enough to conceal her lightsaber and quickly tucked it in figuring that it would be better if no one actually saw she had it.

Vestara exited the room expecting to simply find Mirta waiting for her, but when she exited she suddenly felt something solid being quickly placed over her head momentarily obscuring her vision until she noticed and opening of sorts that she could still see somewhat. After the immediate disorientation passed she realized she could see Mirta in front of her with an almost playful and mischievous expression on her face.  
"I apologize, but I just couldn't resist, I take my entertainment where I can find it."  
Vestara wasted no time quickly removing whatever it was that now covered her head to see it was a mandalorian helmet, specifically it appeared to be the helmet that went with the armor she now wore realizing the opening which she could still see through was the visor.  
"You slammed a helmet on my head? WHY?!"  
"Traditionally all Mandalorian armor possess a helmet, I just found a humorous way of giving it to you."  
Vestara looked at the helmet momentarily before turning back to Mirta "I'm not wearing this."  
"You need to, or you wont look the part...although your hair might be an issue. We usually keep our hair short or shaved so our helmets fit better."  
"I'm not cutting my hair and I am NOT shaving my head, I don't care what you say you come at me with clippers and I swear I will create a thunderstorm indoors."  
"Okay well at least tie back your hair and carry the helmet with you so you look the part. Agreed?"  
Vestara nodded before noticing someone else, Rook, standing in the hall with them "If you two girlfriends are through, we've arrived."  
Mirta turned to Vestara "Ready to meet a Bio-Chem weapons expert?"  
"What the hell, not doing anything else."  
"Great let's go everybody!"

 **A/N Two chapters in the same week, I'm awesome.  
I'VE REACHED DOUBLE DIGIT'S, I'M OFFICIALLY AWESOME, or more awesome than I was before. And in the event I reach triple digits THEN I'LL BE AWESOME!  
ENJOY!**


	11. Chapter 11

As they docked at Palagus' station Vestara peered out a nearby window to get a better look at the station itself. The station was tall and cylindrical but near the lower portion she saw a series of smaller and rather numerous separate sections connected by only small corridors, very similar to the one that they were now using to dock their ship. Vestara had never actually been to such a place before, but given the occupation of the individual who owned the station it seemed a fair guess just what those particular portions of the station were for, storing sample of whatever biological or chemical weapon he happened to be studying at the time, given the risk she imagined came with the occupation it made a bit of sense they would be stored in diverse and separated sections, and that they could be jettisoned if the need arises.  
But one particular detail bothered her, the sheer number of these smaller sections. She understood the need for prudence in such a profession and having adequate storage was certainly a must, but she noticed something about the smaller section, not all seemed to have power active in them, this could mean absolutely nothing save for they are having maintenance issues. But there was also the possibility that this meant the ones presently using power were the ones occupied, and the only reason this bothered her at all was that it seemed that the vast majority of them were active. Perhaps it was her own natural distrust of people that was making her paranoid of the situation, but it unsettled her greatly to be entering a place were there appeared to be so many potential WMD's on hand, in the midst of space, were she had nowhere to run. She then remembered that on top of all of this Mirta expected her to bring yet ANOTHER biological weapon onto the station for Palagus to study. In fact the situation as a whole made her uncomfortable.  
After contemplating all of this for a moment she turned towards Mirta and scowled " _I loathe you right now._ "

As the ship completed it's docking sequence and was now connected to the station Vestara joined Mirta and Rook as they headed through the corridor into leading into the station itself. When the door opened they were 'greeted',if it could be called that, by a very tall, bald, human male, wearing what appeared to be a very formal suit. Vestara noticed something was off about what he was wearing, the suit appeared to be a size or two larger than what it should be, and it he seemed to be wearing something under it, from what she could tell from the contours of his suit it looked as though he was wearing some sort of armor, not unlike what Mirta and the other Mandalorians wore, beneath it. It didn't seem too bulky so it wasn't immediately noticeable but based on Mirta's frown she seemed to have caught on as well.  
" _That's no butler, or servant, he sent the muscle to greet us. So much for everybody getting along._ "  
The man stared at them very sternly and simply gestured without a word for them to follow them. Vestara didn't sense any particular hostility or disdain from this individual but if he was just acting the way he was instructed she wouldn't sense much to begin with.  
As they walked Vestara took notice of something else about the man sent to greet them, the suit he wore to conceal his armor appear to be protective as well, the fabric and manner in which it was woven resembled the lining she had seen in between portions of combat armor, adding to his physical defense while creating the illusion of a respectful host.  
" _I imagine that man could take a blaster round point blank to the chest and get right back up! Yes, I feel all manner of welcome here._ "

After following their silent greeter through a series of maze-like hallways with numerous doorways throughout, they eventually reached what appeared to be a large circular lobby or waiting room, there were various chairs and tables spread throughout the room and several doorways lining the large circular wall, each one guarded by two rather tall individuals of various races all dressed in the same manner as the other man, light body armor customized to resemble respectful and formal clothing large enough to conceal heavier armor beneath.  
When they had all entered the room the man gestured to a group of nearby chairs and addressed them "If you could take a seat he will be with you in a moment." with that he headed exited the room through a doorway at the opposite end of which they entered.

Rook looked around the room at all the guards before turning his attention to Mirta and Vestara "So who else is rather uncomfortable right now?"  
Vestara sat turning her eyes all around the room "They sent someone padded down enough to withstand a land speeder crashing into him to bring us to a room full of equally...armed...individuals, and who knows what weapons they have hidden on their person. Yeah, I feel comfortable, this is great, Mirta what raving psychopath have you got us into business with now?"  
"You shut up crippy. In fact both of you shut up. Listen tight security is nothing to be worried about, this guy does business for this entire system, chances are he has his share of enemies, hence security, perhaps a little extreme security but still nothing out of the ordinary, or at least nothing we shouldn't have foreseen."  
"Until he gets mad at us and has his unstoppable behemoths murder us, seriously all these guys look to be about six and a half feet."  
"OH MY-Shut up Rook!"  
"I have a question." Both turned to Vestara "What...what do you suppose he keeps in all of those...lower sections of the station."  
After thinking for a second Mirta simply shrugged "I imagine he has to have sample's of whatever he's studying in order to make counter agents."  
"Yes, I figured as much, but WHY does he have so many, right now, on hand? It was my understanding his job was to find ways to eliminate the viruses or whatever that he's given, so why does he have so many? While not impossible it's not very probable that he has that much of a workload at this very moment. If he isn't getting rid of them why is he holding on to them?"  
Rook scratched his chin for a moment before turning towards Mirta "See this is what happens when you leave her in your room watching sci-fi horror movies all day long she gets super paranoid, BUT she does have a point, it makes sense he'd keep samples for testing but once he had confirmation that he had a working counter-agent theoretically he wouldn't need them, and keeping them around would be hazardous. And on top of that, if he isn't disposing of the weapons he's hired to neutralize then wouldn't that mean he'd keep a sample of the nano-killer we want him to get rid of?"  
Mirta's head shot up at the sound of this and her eyes narrowed "He had better not! He'd better burn every sample we give him! I want no trace of it to exist once we are done!"

Before the three could continue their discussion any further one of the door's opened and a male Mon Calamari, with a rather exaggerated smile, hurried over to them.  
"I am so terribly sorry for you all having to wait like this, I realize this must be a great inconvenience."  
Mirta stood up and pointed at the man "You aren't Palagus."  
"No, quite right, I am not. I am his assistant. Mr. Palagus you see, is unavailable at the moment for he is in a meeting right now, but he might be able to speak to you soon."  
"Now hold on, I spoke to him a couple of days ago and arranged to meet with him, we all traveled a great distance to get here, from another system in fact, and when we got close enough to see the station from our ship we informed him we'd arrived, and so he decided to just take a meeting and blow us off?!"  
The Mon Calamari was now shaking and trying desperately not to let his oversized smile fade as he continued his dialogue "I do apologize for the inconvenience, truly, it was a last minute affair that he himself was not expecting."  
Mirta turned her gaze to Vestara who already knew what she wanted and gave a small nod to confirm he was in fact telling the truth.  
"So what exactly are we supposed to do just wait until he's done with whoever and then speak when it's our turn?"  
"Well ma'am..."  
"Do not 'Ma'am' me."  
"Sorry. Um...he is almost done with his meeting so..uh..ahem, he can get with you as soon as he is done, it's a holo meeting so it shouldn't be much longer, if we could just have your patience."  
Mirta was now visibly grinding her teeth out of sheer impatience "Tell him we will wait but he is being a very POOR host."  
"U..understood." the smile completely gone from his face the man hurried back to through the same entrance whence he originally came to convey Mirta's sentiment's.  
Mirta herself was now gripping both of her hands and trying not to scream "We show up, we are led to a waiting area, we are asked to wait, only to be asked to wait EVEN FURTHER!"  
Rook put one of his hand's on one of Mirta's shoulders and forced her into her seat while looking around at all the guards, who were now focusing exclusively on the three of them. "Gev, calm down and sit before you cause an incident we will all regret, especially in the morning." He then Turned to Vestara "So, Sevara I believe, was he telling the truth?"  
"Far as I can tell."  
"What do you mean by that."  
"It could have been the truth or it could have just been what he was told to tell us, which would have read the same way as it would have been _a_ truth."  
"So you don't know?"  
"I'm neither psychic nor omnipotent, it felt like he was telling the truth, but again if he was just reciting what his boss told him to say and he doesn't know better it would feel the same way."  
"I thought she was supposed to be useful."  
"OH BITE ME, CHESS PIECE!"  
Mirta was now rubbing her temples "If the two of you don't shut up I swear I will beat you both to death with the others dismembered limbs, alright I'm annoyed so do not test me."  
"While we are on the subject of her analytical capabilities, I think we should discuss how she's going to inform us as to whether or not Palagus is being honest with us. I'm certain he won't like it if we ask every two seconds if she thinks he's lying or not."  
"How about she do something simple like... hum if he's being honest, clear your throat if he lies and if you aren't certain...put your hand on your chin, like your thinking about something."  
"Alright I can do all that, assuming we ever speak to him."

While the three waited something occurred to Vestara that she hadn't asked before now but was no less curious of. "Mirta may I ask a question?"  
"Didn't you just?"  
"Ha-ha. But why are you doing all of this?"  
"...Excuse me?"  
"This, your planet, the virus, why?"  
"Do you want me to hurt you?"  
"No I'm just asking a question, you're doing all of this so you can return to A planet, A single planet in a galaxy full of them, what makes this one so important you can't live without it? From what you told me about your past you weren't even born there, and your mother who raised you didn't even follow the Mando lifestyle, so why?"  
Rook who overheard the question leaned forwards "May I smack her?"  
"No, you may not. Sevara, you told me you spent your whole life on a planet that never possessed any sort of off world transportation, the culture and the ways of others is completely and utterly foreign to you, you're 18 years of age but in regards to matters such as this you're very much akin to a child, so I will not get offended by that question and I will answer it, you are in fact stuck with us in this, may as well know the why. Mandalore is our ancestral home, it is where we trace our roots to, Rook here is descended from a clone of Jango Fett, but Fett was of Mandalore. My mother was half-Kiffar, half-Mandalorian, my father was a full Mando, so I was raised as a Mando, the planet itself is a part of our history and in our most trying times it is to be our last safe haven, a home no one can take from us, but someone did. To us, to our people there isn't any greater insult, so to anyone else sure, they could just go and find a different home on a different world. But NOT us. Does that answer your question?"  
"I guess, a little." Realizing her ignorance of other societies had once again caused her to touch on a sore subject with Mirta, Vestara opted to stay silent for the remainder of the time they waited to meet with Palagus.

After a while longer the Mon Calamari from before re-entered the room, his obnoxious smile having found it's way back onto his face.  
"So terribly sorry for the delay, will see you now."  
Mirta who was not amused at all with how long they had been kept waiting walked over to him "So he'll see us now, not next week? Month from tomorrow? His next birthday?!"  
"Gev, no need to be rude or snarky!"  
"I'll be the judge of that."  
The three followed the Mon calamari assistant through the same doorway he came through and proceeded through a long maze-like hallway not unlike the one they came through when they first arrived until they reached an elevator, the three entered at his insistence and waited for him to direct it to the appropriate floor, once they had reached the correct floor they exited the elevator and they once again made their way through an elongated hallway, another detail of this place that caught Vestara's curiosity.  
"What exactly is in all of these rooms?"  
"Well, due to where the station is located the entire staff, myself included, have to live onsite, so Mr. Palagus has seen to it we are all provided our own personal lodgings."  
"And it doesn't bother you that you literally sleep just above every Bio-Chemical weapon developed in this system? Certainly keep me up at night."  
"I can assure you, adequate steps are taken to ensure everyone's safety."  
" _I'll believe it when I see it._ "

At the end of the long hallway they came to an office therein they were greeted by a male Bothan in a lab coat sitting behind a desk.  
"Hello, everyone I am Ord Palagus, sorry for all the delays, around the time you finished docking a business associate with no sense of time or tact called and wouldn't take no for an answer."  
Vestara began lightly humming to herself while she sat down nearby.  
"Now you" pointing at Mirta "Are Mirta Gev correct? Your who I spoke to?"  
"Yes, and let me say that given the importance of this matter I'm not pleased with the idea of being left to dangle, pondering whether or not you could be of any assistance."  
"Again an unfortunate mishap, now given how important you have stressed this matter allegedly is, what is it you hope to procure my services for? You are a long way from your home system."  
"Are you familiar with the matter regarding Mandalore itself?"  
"Not entirely."  
"A nano-killer was released into the atmosphere, a nano-killer set to target anyone who shares DNA with my grandfather and given that he has a ...large family" gesturing towards Rook "That is no small target group."  
"Correct me if I'm wrong but your Great-grandfather was the template for the republic's clone army those years back, yes?" Mirta gave a quick nod "Are they and their family affected?" Mirta nodded once more. "I see. And you want my help in creating something to neutralize the nano-killer, yes?"  
"Yes, that's what we are getting at."  
Palagus leaned back in his chair and stroked a bit of fur on his chin "Well, I have dealt with viruses programmed to target specific individuals before" Vestara started humming again "However there are many kinds, they aren't all the same thing. The process in creating such Biological weapons is often dependent on who made it. In this case I will of course need a sample of this particular virus to examine to determine what it is I'm dealing with." Mirta listened for Vestara who was still humming.  
"We understand completely and we do have a sample with us you can analyze, back on our ship. We can have it brought for you to examine very soon."  
"Now hold on, I never said I would take the job."  
Mirta gritted her teeth "What would it take to convince you TO take the job?"  
"I'm under contract from all the governments on all the planets in this system, my job it to essentially prevent them from all killing each other, because most hate each other. My work load is by no means small even with a full staff, and with the occasional freelance jobs I take it's even worse, but you make your bed then you sleep in it. You want to add to my work load, understand my time is expensive, VERY expensive."  
" _Oh, you weasel._ "  
Palagus then pulled out a data-pad and typed a few things onto it before handing it to Mirta "Think you can pay that price?"  
Upon seeing the price however Vestara could almost feel killer intent from Mirta suggesting it was by no mean's a reasonable price. "Y...yes, we...we can pay that,and we will,we will, when you deliver! Last person who laid claim to being able to help me wanted payment up front and never lifted a finger on their end, I'm not getting conned again!"  
"That's fair. Tell you what let me examine the sample you have, I think I can fix your little dilemma, you pay me, I do the job."  
"If you think you can do the job you get half up front, the rest when you deliver!"  
Palagus chuckled at this while staring at her eyes, seeing the level of seriousness in them he smirked realizing she wouldn't budge on her stipulation. "Deal. I almost want to haggle but I know better than to argue price with Mandalorian's. Now let's see this virus of yours."  
Rook leaned in close "Do we even have that much money?"  
Mirta stared sheepishly at her feet "I might have to have Grandfather foot the bill on this."  
"Oh, let's hope he loves you as much as you think he does."

Mirta, Vestara, and Rook returned to the ship where Mirta directed Vestara towards a small metal safe in the cargo bay, therein lay a single small suitcase which held a large, sealed, metal cylinder.  
"What's in here EXACTLY."  
"A small sample of the air from Mandalore's atmosphere, don't jostle it or I swear my last act before dying will be stabbing you, and strangling you."  
"Your my bestest friend to Mirta."

Vestara proceeded to carry the suitcase very carefully and slowly through the long hallway, directed by Palagus's assistant until she reached the large circular waiting room where Palagus himself was waiting by one of the doorways.  
"Alright miss, I can take that, ordinarily I'd wear some sort of hazmat suit but since this won't ever kill me, didn't see the point, probably my safest job yet."  
Vestara might have found humor in his quips were it not for the fact that her pain medication was wearing off and she could now feel her legs again.  
"I will be down in the lower levels of the station examining this, this could take a up to a few hours, you and your comrades are free to wait here until I'm done, and I will have an answer for Miss Gev soon." And with that he disappeared through the doorway.

Vestara limped back over to one of the chairs and started rubbing her knee and ankle to try and ease the pain, after a while Mirta and Rook found there way back to the room and waited with her in silence, after a while Vestara noticed one of the guards paying attention to whatever seemed to be being conveyed through his earpiece, the way he seemed to intent on what was being said she surmised he was receiving orders or such, when suddenly the guard turned to look at her and a chill ran down her. She turned and looked at all the other guards, they too seemed to be receiving some sort of instructions over their earpieces, and the menacing sense of foreboding only got worse as each one turned their attention to the three of them, the force filled with a killer intent from everyone in the room which gradually increased with each ones gaze as they slowly advanced towards the three of them.  
"Guys. I don't mean to alarm you, but I think these guys might have just been ordered to kill us."

 **A/N: 10/23/2016 QUINTUPLE UPDATE MOTHERFUCKER!**  
 **Let me start with yes, I haven't updated in three months, I haven't updated at all in three, almost four, months. Why? Life, that's why. Life. Life and Death.**  
 **First I was in the middle of a move and didn't have access to the internet for a while, no big deal I still kept writing.**  
 **But then my paternal grandfather drops dead of a heart attack. My dad has now lost BOTH of his parents and I've been helping him cope, needless to say, I've had a hard time writing since, every time I tried I couldn't stay focused on if for too long.**  
 **Then on top of that, my dog died. So yeah past couple months have been SHIT!**  
 **I'm still continuing the story, and I stand by my word to see it through to the end. Hopefully I can get back to semi-regular updates.**

 **On the subject of these next five chapters quality, ultimately I wasn't supremely proud of all of them, likely in the future I will go back and edit them to fix grammatical errors or make the narration less boring, because personally I found this chapter itself somewhat boring, it was just a build up to the violence.  
**


	12. Chapter 12

Rook and Mirta attempted to remain calm and inconspicuous as they directed themselves towards Vestara in response to her haunting message. "What exactly do you mean they've been ordered to kill us?"  
"I said I think they have. They received some sort of order over their comm-pieces, and then...I don't know, I felt something. It felt cold, I could feel a great deal of hostility all of the sudden."  
Mirta narrowed her eyes and looked around the room to see each of the guards were staring at them, "How did Palagus seem when you spoke to him?"  
"Calm, care free, cracking jokes."  
Rook groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose"Cracking jokes one minute, ordering our gruesome murder the next, like one of those famous murderers people make a million movies about with never ending sequels."  
The pain in Vestara's legs was now throbbing and was almost unbearable "Please tell me you two actually brought weapon's. I realize this was supposed to be strictly a business trip."  
Mirta giggled at the question momentarily "They could each and everyone of them frisk us, and they still wouldn't find everything."  
"Good, because ones coming over!"

Everyone directed their attention to one of the guards who was approaching them somewhat slowly and cautiously. "If the three of you could come with us right now."  
Mirta stands up to try and make eye contact "May I ask why?"  
"JUST COME WITH US NOW!"  
Vestara leans towards them "I'm sensing a lot of hostility"  
"YOU! BE QUIET! NOW THE THREE OF YOU COME WITH ME!"  
"Your suddenly very hostile, it was my understanding me and your boss had entered into a business arrangement, so I'm not fathoming where the situation changed."  
When she was done speaking the guard suddenly drew his blaster and held it eye level to Mirta's face "I'm not asking again!"  
Rook, not taking well to this threatening gesture, shot straight up from where he sat but was halted from doing anything by Vestara who had grabbed his arm. Upon turning back to see why she had attempted to restrain him he noticed every other guard in the room had drawn their weapons in response to Rook's behavior. Mirta glanced around the room, their were two guards at every door, and a total of eight to nine doors, meaning their was around sixteen to eighteen guards all with weapons drawn and aimed at them from every direction. Even with whatever training Mirta and Rook had received they couldn't take blaster fire from literally every direction, and while Vestara could perhaps deflect some with her lightsaber, she wasn't yet in prime condition, Mirta knew her legs though recovered were still sore and sensitive from surgery, and even with the power of the Force the main problem persisted, they were surrounded. She was confused as to what suddenly prompted the situation to turn but understood that at the moment they had little recourse but to comply with what they asked.  
"Let's go, all three of us, let's just find out what this is all about." Mirta walked over and aided Vestara to her feet and leaned her head towards her to speak discreetly "So what exactly is happening? Shouldn't you have seen this coming?"  
"I don't know what's going on ,whoever is giving them orders isn't in the room, ergo I can't sense anything from anyone until they have already done something. I may, and I stress **MAY** have an idea of how to handle the large surrounding numbers buuuuuut..."  
"But?"  
"Let's just say you won't like it, Rook either. But it will give us an opening."  
"Only if you feel you must, I don't want to start any violence in the event this is just a simple misunderstanding that can be resolved."  
Vestara gave a small nod before one of the guards walked over to them "Why does she need help?"  
"Her legs were injured and she's recovering from surgery, she's done all the standing she can do for the day, that a problem?"  
The man stared for a second and then walked away from them, once out of ear shot he spoke something into his comm and paused, presumably to hear the response of whomever he was speaking, after a few moments a great sense of dread flew over Vestara and she turned to Mirta. "Trust me it's necessary!"  
The guard gstured for two others to join him before holding out his hand towards the the two women "Weapons." The two guards that joined also held their hands out while all the remaining held their own blasters fixed upon the trio. Mirta and Rook handed them a small handful of various weaponry, Vestara pondered weather or not she should give them her lightsaber, wondering if she could pass it off as something non-threatening. However she worried they might do her harm if she attempted to conceal a weapon, on the other hand if they saw what it was they could become anxious and possibly hostile anyway, once again causing her to hate her present condition.  
After a few moments it did not go unnoticed Vestara had yet to comply with their demand and one of them moved closer to them raising his weapon as he advanced "Weapons!"  
Before Vestara could respond Mirta addressed him "She doesn't have any."  
A look of bitter skepticism stretched across his face "She doesn't have any?" He turned to examine the small pile of weapons she and Rook had provided "Yet you two have so many."  
"She's injured, I said that before, no point in giving someone who can't fight a weapon."  
"If she's injured why is she here?"  
"Because before you all went postal and held us at gunpoint this was a business trip, I bring people who's opinion I value for business transactions, she's here to give me advise."  
His skepticism only increased and feeling unsatisfied he walked over and nudged Mirta away from Vestara, leaving her to stand rather awkwardly by herself, and proceeded to pat her down. Vestara felt a pit in her stomach as he reached her pouch fearful of what he might do if he saw the lightsaber but ultimately he found nothing leaving Vestara's dread to be replaced with utter confusion. Satisfied that she was completely unarmed the guard walked away and gave a small nod to the others, with that the original guard who first approached them he gestured to one of the nearby doorways "Come with us."  
As they proceeded through the doors and down the hall escorted by the multitude of armed men Mirta pulled Vestara slightly closer "In case your wondering I've pick-pocketed your saber before without you noticing, I'm fully capable of doing it again." With that she felt a small pat on her pouch as if to assure her of the return of her possession "Whatever your planning can it work in this hallway?"  
"It's hardly ideal but it can work, when **IT** happens will you two be able to defend yourselves, because it's going to get crazy afterwards?"  
"Just do whatever you need to."  
"Alright, and I'd like to apologize in advance."  
"For what?"  
"You'll see. Trust me you'll see."  
Vestara closed her eyes as she began to concentrate on her task, what she was planning was something she had never physically done before but had heard of and understood the concept, she simply needed to focus while Mirta directed her walking. A short ways through the hall several of the guards parted, no doubt to watch the docking bay entrance should any other members of Mirta's crew become suspicious, Vestara readily welcomed the drop in numbers it meant her task was now much easier, but no less daunting as she was certain their were still at least a dozen. She could hear their armed escort speaking through their comms, reporting to whomever was responsible for the sudden paradigm shift, each only ceasing their respective conversations to allow the individual on the other end to give them further instructions. But with every pause in their conversing Vestara would receive yet another warning through the force, regardless of their cooperation she was quite convinced these men meant them harm. Once she felt ready enough she brought her hands to her chest clenched tightly " _If this works I'll have learned a new trick, if it doesn't we'll all likely die horribly. No pressure._ " As ready as she ever thought she would be she rose her head and shouted to the guards "HEY!"  
No one had time to react to what occurred next, as every guard turned to them she suddenly thrust her arms outward towards her sides, unclenching her fist's, and releasing a massive wave of force energy , violently thrusting any and everyone around her in every direction and even causing the nearby walls to bow inward.  
The closest guard to Vestara immediately drew his weapon and took aim but Vestara , having not been thrown about, was ready having already drawn and ignited her saber. With a quick swoop she cut through his weapon rendering it useless, and with her free hand she threw her hand forward using the force to push him further away and causing his to barrel into any others in his path. Vestara turned to see various weapons belonging to Mirta and Rook strewn about and as fast as she could she levitated as many as she could hold at once towards the two who were staring at her in a small daze as to what just occurred, but still having enough of their wits about them to comprehend her action they readily took hold of their armaments and opened fire on anyone nearby. Vestara turned back towards the guards she just threw realizing the had regained their barrings and had begun to open fire, she did her best to deflect the blaster fire with her lightsaber, but unfortunately she wasn't as effective at it as she would have liked as her legs, which only functioned at the moment through pure adrenaline, were still awkward and threw off her form. Most of the shots she caught and deflected but not always in the direction of her assailants often rather towards a nearby wall, and those she couldn't catch mostly flew past her, but occasionally she did get hit, albiet in a part of her body that was armored, thus while the shots hurt they weren't fatal. Realizing the disadvantage her present condition gave her she knew the best option was to get in close, their blasters wouldn't be effective at a short range but lightsaber would. With that thought in mind she began to make her way towards them between blaster fire, but her mobility made it slow which she understood only complicated matters.  
Mirta and Rook had only minor difficulty with their own opponents, both knew how to maneuver in their armor, and both were trained enough on how to combat multiple armed adversaries.  
Mirta quickly leaped towards one of the guards ducking his fire, when he turned downwards to face her she turned her own weapon towards his head and wasted no time firing. The man lurched backwards as the shot flew straight through his skull before his body went limp, Mirta however caught him by the collar of his armor and held him stationary in front of her with one of her hands ,as if to use his body as a shield, and continued to fire at the remaining guards with her other, Rook quickly took notice and grimaced "Yeah, because THAT'S not creepy." Mirta however payed him no mind as she quickly dispensed of several others with single shots to the one apart of their bodies NOT coated in multiple layers of armor, their heads.  
Rook however lacked Mirta's impeccable aim, which he attributed to her being taught by Boba Fett himself, so he resorted to a different approach. As he advanced towards his targets he took advantage of the hallways narrow corridor and moved himself directly in front of one guard which prevented others from firing on him with out firing at their own ally, as he reach the first one he fired at his hand causing him to drop his weapon and brought his fist towards his, the guard however caught his blow with his forearm, but Rook counting on this and with his other arm thrust a knife he had hidden into the man's hip in a small gap in his armor. Reeling from the pain he immediately lost his balance and his hold on Rooks arm granting him the opportunity to shoot him point blank, with his current target dispatched of he jumped to the side throwing his knife towards the next closest Guard while firing upon the second closest, these tactics though did not serve as well as he had hoped as again his aim wasn't as accurate as he'd like, both targets were wounded and momentarily stunned but not so much that they couldn't retaliate. Angered they both decided to rush him, he however couldn't help but smile for what they didn't know was while he had sub-par aim, he **was** however primarily trained in close quarters combat. When his first opponent reached him he lightly stepped to the side and grabbed him by his shoulder and lower back and used the mans momentum to throw him literally head first into a nearby wall. With a loud hollow thud the man's body suddenly went limp and he collapsed to the floor, his next opponent was now expecting some form of similar trickery and slowed his pace and instead of charging Rook he instead threw a punch with his right arm. Rook effortlessly dodged while simultaneously wrapping his left arm around the mans right, and jerking it upwards dislocating his opponents limb before delivering a fast jab to his midsection. When his opponent reared forward from the blow Rook relinquished his grip from his left arm and quickly curled his right around the guards neck, and with a quick shift of his midsection and an audible crack another body loosened and fell at his feet.  
Vestara had lost all patience with the men firing upon her and had decided to simply deal with the matter via the force and was making a somewhat unsettling display as she grabbed those closest to her through telekinesis and rammed them into the wall with enough force that their bodies contorted. Those who weren't close enough for her to simply 'grab' in this particular manner she simply pushed sending them barreling into each other, she found profound amusement in their scrambling to their feet following this, one guard had mad his way to her but before he could do anything of consequence she delivered a quick blow across his torso with her lightsaber, he groaned in pain and haltered back for a breif moment before quickly recollecting himself and examined his wound, which as it turned out due to the multiple layers of armor was **NOT** that deep, but before he could readdress his opponent Vestara ran her blade straight through his torso ensuring he was dead this time, while groaning that he survived the first strike.  
" _My old crystal generated MUCH more heat, IT would have gone through with a single blow._ "  
She turned to see just how many guard she still had to deal with and only saw two who were trying to maintain some distance having figured the general range in which she could reach them "Smart", she briefly thought, "However." She walked over to a nearby body and levitated a blaster to her hand before calling out to her opponents "HEY, GUESS WHAT?" They both stared at each other dumbfounded before looking back at her "I CAN SHOOT TOO!" She rose the blaster and fired using the force to guide her shot to reach one of them, whilst a second simultaneous shot stuck the guard next to him, Vestara turned to see it had been Mirta, who had already dispatched all of her respective opponents, that fired the second shot. "I could have gotten the other one."  
Mirta grimaced at her "Does this look like the face of someone who even REMOTELY cares?!" Rook came up behind her and made some sort of hand gesture suggesting Vestara not try and answer before looking down at one of the nearby bodies to see a small flashing light on the comm-piece he had been wearing "Hello what have we here?" Rook knelt down and removed it and held it to his ear to immediately hear an exasperated voice shouting on the other end.  
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?! WHY IS NO ONE ANSWERING? WHERE IS EVERYONE? WHAT ARE YOU DOING? HAVE YOU SECURED THE PRISONERS"  
Realizing the opportunity the get some answers he deepened his voice before replying to the individual on the other end "Sorry, small incident transporting them, its been taken care of."  
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SMALL INCIDENT ALL OF THE CAMERAS IN THAT HALL SUDDENLY WENT DARK?!"  
Rook looked around to see every camera in the hall was bowed inward and compressed, no doubt a result of Vestara's action from before " _Huh, she took out ALL the cameras._ Yes, as I said there was an incident, it's been handled, we are securing them now. We can all provide a full report once we are finished"  
"I TOLD YOU ALL BEFORE WE ONLY NEED THE MAND'ALOR'S GRANDDAUGHTER. HER INJURED FRIEND IS JUST DEAD WEIGHT AND EXPENDABLE, I'VE GIVEN YOU CLEARANCE TO TERMINATE HER!"  
" _That would explain the bad feeling she got_ "  
"IF THE OTHER IS GIVING YOU TROUBLE KILL HIM TOO!"  
" _Your talking to the other asshat!_ What of the others aboard their vessel? Won't they eventually get suspicious?"  
"THEY ARE BEING DISPOSED OF, YOU NEED NOT WORRY, JUST SECURE THE MAND'ALORE'S GRANDDAUGHTER RIGHT NOW!"  
Rook felt a great sense of dread at that statement and he could see Vestara's face go pale as she could sense whatever he just heard "GEV! GET A HOLD OF THE SHIP AND TELL THEM TO GET OUT OF HERE!"  
"Wait, wha.."  
"JUST KRIFFING DO IT!"  
Mirta quickly grabbed her own Comm "Hello, anyone, this is Mirta Gev, if anyone can hear me get the Kandosii away from the station right now, for the time being leave us just..." Before she could continue any further she was interrupted by the distant sound of metal tearing immediately followed by the entire station shaking nearly knocking everyone off their feet "Oh, please for the love of Mandalore itself tell me that wasn't what I think it was. HELLO!"  
For a long moment their was a piercing silence from her comm causing her to fear the worst, she didn't know what Rook had heard but she could tell form his tone what the inherant danger was, she turned on her comm again hoping to receive something "Hello?"  
The silence permeated for a little longer before she received static on the other end "Hello?"  
"...ell...o..e..an...hear...ou"  
Rook sighed before chuckling "Oh thank goodness, their alive, they apparently have epilepsy, but their alive." Both Mirta and Vestara Scowled at him.  
"...el..llo...hel..lo..hello, their that's better, finally getting through without feedback."  
"Can you kindly explain to us what just shook the entire station?"  
"Well, we were receiving a call from you when the station defense turrets suddenly came on and almost opened fire on us. We had to literally tear ourselves off of the station in order to get away , though they did get a few licks in before we took out the turrets, the ships hull is still intact but it will require some serious work, and the docking bay we used it destroyed so you aren't coming out the way you came in. Now you mind explaining what in the name of all that is holy, sacred and cherished is going on?"  
"At the moment, I don't know, honestly I don't, I'll let you know when I do. We'll call when it's safe to approach the station but for now pull back and make sure the ship is still running right."  
"Can do."  
The comm went silent and Mirta turned to Rook "Now who did you talk to, and what did they say?"  
"Who? Don't know really the guy was screaming like he was conscious during a colonoscopy, now as for what he said, he said they want YOU, he said specifically ,more than once they want the Mand'alore's granddaughter, and to kill everyone else. That's about it, our conversation ended when he said he was gonna blow up the ship."  
Mirta's eyes twitched at hearing this and after a few moments she walked over to a nearby wall and began banging her head against it "ALL. . .THING! ONE KRIFFING THING! To go right! We come, we talk, we do business, it's all happy, yay. BUT NO! NONONONONONONONONONO! The fact that I have a famous grandpa has to come and complicate things, now they are trying to kill everyone and, catch me for who knows what reason! And if I want answers I have to traverse this Godforsaken maze of a space station, with A bounty hunter who's sense of aim is irrelevant..."  
"I take minor offense to that."  
"AND a pseudo-crippled former-Sith!"  
"Hey! I think I held my own in that fight."  
"Your arms are covered in burns from blaster shots! So now if I want answers I have only the two of you to back me as I traverse the millions of rooms and corridors this place contains, yes? All the while dealing with NUMEROUS, HOSTILE, and heavily armed security guards. All the while finding an alternative means of extricating ourselves FROM said space station. HAVE I MISSED ANYTHING?!"  
Vestara sheepishly rose her hand "The guy whose trying to kill us is also supposed to cure your planet, don't know how that dampens everything but, yeah there's that."  
Mirta face-palmed at this "Thank you, my aneurysm is complete...let's go I need to hurt somebody." Looking around at the dead bodies "I need to hurt more somebodies"

 **A/N Someone commented before they wanted more action, here, violence, now shut up!  
Just Kidding.**


	13. Chapter 13

The three recollected whatever belongings they had dropped or had confiscated in the previous skirmish before continuing through the hallway they were in, shortly though after making a turn at a nearby corner, a small whirring sound caught their attention and halting them completely. The noise was akin to very small moving parts but neither could find the source as they glanced around the hall seemingly in every direction, but after a brief moment Vestara seemed to spot the source: a security camera, that had not been destroyed, adjusting its focus on them. Wasting no time Mirta quickly drew one of her blasters and fired upon it, but knew that honestly this act did very little for them.  
"Now they know I'm not in their custody. And they'll be sending more security."  
Vestara groaned audibly while rubbing the bridge of her nose "As if they weren't already."  
Rook looked around at all of the doorways that line the hall they were ,grimacing at how many there were and thinking back at how many more they saw on their way to see Palagus during their first trek through the station, he didn't know how big the rooms were, how many they could hold, or where they lead, it was entirely possible that security guards could literally descend from every direction at any given moment. "Even with that trick you pulled off, the shear number of guards that could be here is too much for the three of us, and they've been given orders to kill me and you, Mirta's the one they want."  
"Speaking of which any idea WHY they want Mirta?"  
Rook shrugged briefly "Beat's me, if I had to venture a guess I'd say something to do with her grandfather, they specifically stated they wanted the Mand'alores' Granddaughter, much as I hate to say it, your Gramps has more than his fair share of enemies and he's not exactly...subtle, when doing jobs."  
"That's like saying the surface of Hoth is cold, tell me something I don't know!"  
Vestara briefly limped forward before leaning against the wall "How about this, security is no doubt on it's way to gruesomely murder me and chess piece here..."  
"Do not call me that."  
"And rather than actually trying to find their boss, so he can call off the legions of painful demise, we are sitting here bickering like idiots."  
The two Mandalorians rolled their eyes briefly before they all three began heading down the hall again with Mirta supporting the Vestara. As they continued through hall they noticed more and more security cameras focusing on them, adjusting to follow them as they passed, Vestara did not mind at first but so many she began to feel nervous "Shouldn't we take those out?"  
Mirta let out a small huff "No point really ,there's so many we'd never actually be able to conceal our location all they would have to do is follow the trail of broken cameras. Besides no use in using up our blasters on security cameras before we actually run into any more guards."  
"Whatever she did before took out every camera in that hallway, that's something."  
"If your asking me to do that again, your crazy. It's a miracle it even worked the first time."  
Mirta's curiosity was now piqued, she hadn't had a chance to inquire about it before due to all of the fighting, but now that it was fresh on her mind "How did you do that anyway, I mean what was that back there? You bent the walls, and destroyed cameras, and threw everyone, in EVERY direction."  
Vestara wasn't in the mood to give a lecture on what abilities she did and didn't posses, but knew they weren't going to let it go "I believe the technical term is 'Force Repulse', it's essentially pushing, but in every direction. And if done right it can be much more destructive."  
Mirta rose an eyebrow to this remark "How much more destructive?"  
"Weeell, instead of bending the walls, it should have punched a hole through, if not completely obliterating the walls surrounding me. Also if the individual who utilizes it is strong enough it can disintegrate anyone within close proximity." Mirta suddenly tensed up so much she accidentally let go of Vestara causing her to abruptly collapse on the floor "OW!"  
"Just what does that mean, could I have died back there?!"  
"No! First of all that was the first time I'd ever used that technique and second, I'm not strong enough to tear people apart like that. Not yet at least."  
Mirta narrowed her eyes, displaying her obvious disapproval while remaining silent for a moment before finally leaning down to help Vestara back to her feet "That's all very small comfort, we'll talk about this later."  
The three continued through the hall until they reached an intersection leaving them with three possible paths to take, though there were technically three of them neither were particularly keen on the idea of going their own separate ways, especially in considering how only one was assured survival. After a moments contemplation they simply picked one, not even remotely sure if it was the correct route and headed down that hallway, as the progressed the hall turned and curved in multiple directions so many time eventually the three didn't know which direction they were even headed anymore until eventually the reached yet another intersection.  
Vestara looked down each hallway but couldn't see anything unique or distinguishing about either of them, just long halls lined with doorways. "Why is this place built like a maze, WHY? What purpose does it serve a guy who deals with bio-weapons, to have a station with a floor plan from whatever Hell you believe in."  
Her remark earned a heavy sigh from both her companions while Rook rubbed the bridge of his nose "I can't be too sure but, I think this is the common area of the station, living quarters for staff, recreational areas and whatnot, hey for all we know this hall is full of lavatories and we just don't know it. He mentioned before having a large staff to handle all of the samples he works with, as well as all of the security."  
"Yes, but from the outside the station looks perfectly round, why is it like a labyrinth on the inside?"  
"Because whoever built it was an idiot or..."  
But before Rook could finish Mirta held up her hand to silence him as she stared deeply down one of the nearby halls "Rook, does it look like one of the lights down there is flickering?"  
Using the antenna like scope at the side of his helmet Rook examined what she was referring, and after a brief moment of silence turned back towards her "That's the section we damaged in our fight earlier. This isn't a maze, we're going in circles?!"  
"All of the hallways are for the most part identical, nothing distinguishing any of them, for someone who works and lives here, this may be only a minor inconvenience, but if you don't know where your going and just go down whatever hall you want, you'll turn around and wind up exactly where you started. Which when you think about it is probably why noone else has come for us, they're all probably watching from the cameras somewhere laughing at us while we wander around like idiots trying to figure out where the hell we're going!"  
Vestara groaned at the thought of all the walking they had just done having been for nothing and wanted to stomp her foot, but knew that no matter what foot she used it would hurt either way, instead she simply stared down the hallway the originally came from, if she squinted she could make out the shape of the corpses they left behind, then down the path the just went down, then the one they just came from. "Well, there's technically only one way we haven't gone so may as well try it"  
"Het Gev, if we go in one great big circle again can we just have her use her lightsaber to saw our way through these walls until we find somebody?"  
Mirta rolled her eyes around as if actually contemplating it for a moment "We'll save that for plan B. Just in case."  
The Three continued down the final hall until the reached a two-way split in the hall, Mirta too irritated to allow this to stop just picked one and headed down it, still carrying Vestara with her through the passageway until the reached another fork, now angry but no less determined she drew a blaster and shot the wall leaving a small burn. "Now we know the hallway." Satisfied she continued this pattern for a while as the three made there way through the twisting and winding halls but for the most part managed to avoid going in any circles again. Mirta wasn't sure what angered her the most anymore, the fact that once again a simple venture in trying to rid her world of the virus keeping her away had turned to violence, the fact that she was now wandering aimlessly through the station with no idea where she was going now that she had no guide, given that they left no one alive to guide them, or the idea someone might actually be watching her and be getting some sort of perverse entertainment from everything that is happening. Which ever of these extremely unlikable scenarios infuriated her the most it all motivated her to keep moving for no other reason than to hurt whoever had trifled with her.

Before long however her train of thought was broken when the three finally came upon an elevator at the end of a hall causing her to sigh with great relief and satisfaction "Thank you, there is a god!"  
"Depending of your religion there can be hundreds of gods."  
"Shut up Rook, I'm telling you as your boss."  
"Yes'm"  
After reaching it Mirta gently set Vestara against a wall and pressed a button to bring the elevator to their floor, after giving Vestara a moment she leaned in to address her "Sevara when you spoke to Palagus, did he mention where in the station he would go?"  
"Lower section's, that's all he said about where he does his testing. "  
"The section's we can see from outside are full of nasty, right?"  
Vestara gave a quick nod. "You both realize they will likely expect us to be heading there, no one came looking for us most likely because they all gathered on whatever floor he's on."  
"Thought crossed my mind, I'm sure his too."  
"Then you both realize the problem right?"  
The two Mando just stared at her for a moment before Rook decided to ask "We already addressed the matter of them outnumbering us."  
"No that's not it. I'm referring to the fact that it's not particularly wise to have a shootout on a floor full of Bio/Chemical weapons, especialy one that can specifically kill you both."  
Mirta gripped both fists at the thought of someone else using the virus against her "They wouldn't, they want me alive right."  
"To be honest Gev, we don't know to what end, whatever it is they want you for you could be replaceable."  
"Still the issue remains, I can't go bending and demolishing hallways like I did before down in the lower sections lest we risk me breaching something."  
"And if I may Gev, we don't know where he is, Palagus. He could be anywhere, he could have left the station by now for all we know ,as soon as the shooting started."  
Mirta was now banging her head against her Mando helmet out of sheer irritation "Everyone shut up, just shut up. I don't need anymore rain on my parade or bad news or words of discouragement, I need something to go right today. Recent event have left me severely lacking in the department of patience.I need you two to be supportive."  
"Your are a good person and are very pretty."  
Mirta narrowed her eyes at Vestara who now had a snarky expression on her face "I wasn't talking about moral support I meant support in my endeavors, but I accept whatever complements you offer regardless as to weather or not they were said in jest."  
"OK but we still don't know where he is."  
"So we will just go floor by floor until we find SOMEONE, and _persuade_ them to share that information with us, OK."

The sound of an electronic chime signaled the elevators arrival on their floor and as the doors opened Vestara pulled herself to her feet again, and the three entered. Mirta simply pressed a button signaling for it to head several floors down.  
The three waited out their brief elevator ride in silence each holding on to a weapon of some sort expecting to be fired upon as soon as the elevator opens, but when it reached the floor Mirta had selected, when the doors opened, nothing, no one was waiting for them. Mirta and Rook inched their way out of the doorway to make sure it was secure. But again nothing, no guards at all. Mirta scratched her head in confusion "I don't get it. They're trying to catch me, that's what they said, but they send nobody to get me, there has to be a camera in the elevator, they have to know exactly where we are so..."  
However in the midst of her sentence as she turned back to face Vestara, a sound caught her ear, an unpleasant sound. Metal grinding and scraping as suddenly the elevator shifted, Vestara grabbed onto a wall to try to maintain balance, when suddenly the entire elevator dropped, Vestara still inside.  
Mirta ran frantically towards to doorway to try and reach her but the doors of the elevator slammed shut before she even got close "NO!" Even with the doors closed she could still hear the metal grinding as the elevator now plummeted towards to bottom, and with how fast it was going she what would happen when it reached the bottom.  
"Gev I realize this is a bad time but..."  
"BUT WHAT?!" Mirta spun around to see several doorways opening down the hall and several members of Palagus's security stepping out, only this time they wore helmets themselves, they weren't trying to pretend to be greeters. Mirta Placed her own helmet on and drew two of her blasters "And now I've had it!"

Meanwhile in the elevator Vestara frantically struggled to stay on her feet, she could feel the elevator was building speed as it headed towards the bottom.  
"I lost my family, my home, and I survived a real life monster, I am NOT gonna die here!"  
She quickly ignited her lightsaber and directed it towards to ceiling cutting a circle large enough for her to fit through, after the piece of metal fell out of the way she looked up at the opening she created and cringed at what she had to do.  
"This is gonna hurt." Channeling the force through her legs she jumped through the hole she made and landed on the roof of the elevator, knowing she had little time before she reached the very bottom, and that she only wasn't dead already because of the size of the station itself, she gathered all the power she could through the force and released a massive force push as passed the elevator doors of a floor she passed, the push wasn't enough to blow the doors completely open, but enough that she could grab the ledge now, and that was important, and so once again she used the force to launch herself up towards the ledge she just made.  
The metal from the ledge was uneven and so holding on to it was unpleasant and painful, but given the alternative she endured, she reached for her lightsaber again and ignited it to cut herself a doorway, but before she could the entire elevator shaft shook violently as the elevator finally struck the bottom, and was now engulfed in a fiery blaze, and the tremor its impact created caused Vestara a multitude of problems as not only did she drop her lightsaber but she nearly lost her grip on the ledge.  
She wanted to scream but was either too scared or dumbfounded to do so, instead she squeezed down on the ledge tightly holding on ,even if the metal cut into her skin she was more than willing to endure the pain if it meant living, as for her lightsaber she flailed at it with her other hand frantically only to watch it to fall out of reach. " _I would ask what I have done to deserve this, but I'm sure some divine presence out there in the universe has a list._ "  
She reached out and grabbed it with the force and tried to levitate it back, to her but found this difficult, not that the task of of moving a small metal object was arduous for her ,but because now she could feel blood coming out of her hand and slowly snaking down her arm, diverting her concentration, "Suck it up, just suck it up." proceeding with her tasking with this minor albeit distracting complication she was eventually able to gently glide it up to her hand.  
"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" Wasting no time she ignited the pitch black blade and began cutting away at the warped metal doors in front of her until there was enough of an opening for her to pull herself through. Using both hands she did just that, grabbing at whatever pieces of the wall and doors she could until she was now firmly on the floor in another hallway identical to the on the three on them had had so much frustration navigating.  
She looked down at her hand which was now bleeding profusely, and she had nothing to cover it with. She had brought no first aid kit, this was meant to be a business trip, she had no spare fabric to wrap around it, and whatever she had attached to the armor she wore did not tear easy.  
" _Because no one can follow a trail of blood. But maybe one of the guards carry some sort of first aid on them, as a precautionary measure._ " She began rubbing her knee and ankle which although had healed from the injuries and following surgeries were still tender and now screaming with pain. " _Who am I kidding, I can barely stand, I can't fight. I shouldn't even be here, with them, these Mando. Then again where else do I have to go_?"  
Deciding she didn't want to consider where her mind would go if she gave into self pity she pulled herself to her feet and slowly proceed down the hall, she knew eventually she would run into somebody, it was only a matter of time, then she could get answers. She tightly gripped her left hand which was bleeding hoping to at least stop the bleeding by maintaining consistent pressure.

It didn't take long before she heard the sound of heavy stomping of combat boots heading her way, from what she could tell they were coming from the same direction which came as a great comfort, but given her physical disadvantage she didn't to leave anything to chance, igniting her lightsaber she quickly cut through a nearby door and stuck her head through the doorway.  
She glanced around to see this particular room was mid-sized and mostly empty saved for a few crates, which she noticed had not sort of locks on them suggesting their was nothing dangerous in them "Just to be sure." She quickly opened one up but saw nothing but various metal parts most likely for maintenance. "Just a storage room, doesn't matter if a fight breaks out in here, good."  
As she exited the room she turned to see what she guess was one of the security guards turning the corner, but now he was wearing a helmet and no longer wearing the formal looking outer body armor, as it seemed appearances were no longer important, exposing the thick combat armor beneath.  
"Geez, that's what their wearing, no wonder I couldn't cut through in one swing."  
As soon as the guard spotted her he immediately opened fire with the blaster he already had in hand while charging at her, Vestara managed to safely deflect each bolt from his gun away from her easily until one flew back and struck the blaster out of his hand. With her attacker disarmed she decided it would be easier to incapacitate him for questioning if she resorted to her lightning. Holding out her still bleeding hand she released an arc of force lightning towards her incoming opponent causing him to reel back for a moment, but after a moment the heat generated by the lightning began to agitate the gash on her hand and maintaining the flow of electricity was becoming uncomfortable, and for a second, a brief second her concentration wavered.  
The guard noticed immediately the lightning that was assailing him had momentarily weakened and as fast as he could, with his shoulder extended resumed his charge, but this time he connected his shoulder striking her right in the ribs which ,were it not for the armor Mirta gave her, would have knocked the breath out of her, but if did knock her off of her feet and launch her into a nearby wall.  
When she caught her bearings she could see the guard standing over her, leaning down, reaching for her. She felt his hands wrap around her neck and tighten, for a moment she futiley clawed at his hands as terror took her before the thought came back to her "I'm NOT going to die here!" She held both hand's out towards his head and gestured that she was squeezing something, and after a brief moment she felt his grip loosen, as he suddenly began clasping at his own neck before keeling over.  
Vestara gasped for air, taking in deep breaths as she could breath again, but maintain her invisible grip on her assailants throat, ignoring his own gasps for air, watching as he pawed at his throat trying to find whatever it was that strangled him, until eventually, nothing. Silence.  
Vestara could still hear incoming footsteps, and so she slowly drug herself into the room she had cut open realizing the open space wasn't ideal at all, but not before grabbing a knife she saw holstered to the dead guards side, she often carried some form of knife or dagger with her, having one now helped boost her confidence. She waited in the room next to the door way, someone would see the body in the hall, someone would see the room she cut open, someone would find her.  
Her legs hurt, her hand hurt, her chest hurt, her throat hurt. She looked at herself and could almost laugh were it not so sad.  
Eventually she heard voices, she counted four, perhaps five, the filters on their helmets made it difficult to distinguish. Sure enough they did indeed notice the doorway she had cut open. She could hear them approach, the heavy sound of their boots, one by one. Slowly and silently she pulled herself up, cursing her legs for the umpteenth time " _None of this would even be an issue if I could stand right_." The footsteps were now right outside, practically next to her, gripping her lightsaber she repeated to herself "I'm not going to die here."

 **A/N Starts off lighthearted and somewhat comedic then takes a dramatic turn no?**

 **BTW It occurs to me that I never did describe my OC character Rook, whom if you've noticed Vestara has taken to calling 'Chess piece' solely to annoy him, Rook is roughly a few inches taller than Mirta, shaved head, and dark complexion (think clone trooper), and he wears traditional Mando armor like Mirta and Boba Fett, except his is primarily Sage and black. There now you should have an image to go with the character as you read.**


	14. Chapter 14

Vestara tried to still her breathing as the first guard made his way through the make-shift doorway, as much as she wanted, as much as she needed information, the need to survive took precedence. They were of numbers and her preferred method of incapacitating an opponent she just learned caused her injured hand a degree of pain, but he needed her other hand to hold her lightsaber. Simply rendering them all unconscious wasn't a convenience available to her now, now it was kill or be killed until the situation shifted, and the status quo was in her favor.  
Vestara quickly flicked her wrist, using the force to cause some small innocuous object to fall onto the floor at the other end of the room immediately grabbing the attention of the guard. As soonn as she was sure he couldn't see her at all she immediately ignited her saber, the brief fiery hiss of the blade igniting diverting the guard's attention yet again, he quickly began to turn towards her, but unfortunately for him she was already in mid swing. He never even had a chance to respond as the moment he spotted her the blade of her saber was already sliding between his helmet and the rim of his body armor, sliding through his neck and severing his head immediately.  
This act didn't go unnoticed, an uproar could be heard from the halls as more guards began to make their way towards them, heavy stomping from their boots belied where they stood, she waited until she could see one standing right behind the man she just killed before lunging forward with the knife she had taken from the guard in the hall, thrusting it towards the gap between helmet and his torso armor, although due to the density of the armor he was wearing the knife entered at an awkward angle and didn't penetrate his neck as she had hoped, quick to improvise she gathered a current of force lightning in her hand and channeled it through the knife sending it straight into his body. The man's body convulsed and flailed as the electric current coursed through him, Vestara struggled to hold on as the lightning was once again causing her hand discomfort but she knew she needed to hold on. All the armor he wore made her lightning ineffective through the traditional implementation, but if introduced directly into his body she knew the lightning would fry his nerve, hs organ, everything. She just needed to hold on.  
Eventually she ceased channeling the lightning and his body went limp, as he fell to the floor Vestara hear multiple distinct hums which she already knew to be the sound of their blasters arming themselves, turning her head she saw that their were now three remaining, three guards aiming their guns at her " _So there were five._ " She positioned herself behind the body as the gunfire began. She felt it repeatedly pelt the mans body throwing her backwards onto the floor " _This doesn't help, I'm in a small room, under a corpse with three guys shooting at me!_ ", before she could continue her internal complaining a new sound caught her attention, a rapid beeping she couldn't identify followed soon by a small metallic clatter on the floor close by her, in which the beeping the became louder " _What the Kriff?_ " Turning towards whatever it was she saw a small round object she knew to be a thermal detonator. "OH SON OF A-", she knew in this confined space the explosion would kill her, this was certain, and dying in a fiery explosion was not on her to-do list, acting fast she grabbed the detonator with the force and threw it at the doorway.  
Before the bomb even reached the hall it went off releasing an intense blaze that split between the room Vestara occupied and the hall with the three remaining guards. Beneath the corpse she used for cover Vestara could feel the intense heat but wasn't injured or harmed by it, only mild discomfort. She knew it would be wishful thinking to hope that her three opponents had been slain in the blast so she quickly uncovered herself of the now burnt as well as dead body that lay atop her as soon as the blast cleared readying for when and if anyone came through the doorway. For a moment nothing, no voices, no heavy footsteps, no blaster fire, she couldn't see or hear anything, for a time it truly seemed as though she had gotten lucky and eliminated all three with her quick action, but Vestara wasn't the trusting sort. Slowly she stood up and made her way towards the doorway ,still blanketed by smoke from the detonator, and ignited her saber. As soon as the saber hissed and released the faint white glow from it's blade Vestara could hear a single blaster charging ,she wasted no time and quickly thrust both hands forward releasing a massive force push directly in front of her, clearing away all of the smoke and launching the single remaining guard into the far wall with great force.  
As she stepped into the hall she examined the area immediately surrounding the room she had come from, two badly burnt bodies at either side of the door thrown to the side by the explosion. Vestara couldn't tell if they were dead or if they had simply been rendered unconscious by the blast, but wasn't feeling like taking a chance at the moment, limping over to one she slowly pressed her lightsaber through his chest burning a hole through ensuring his demise, she turned to the other motionless burnt figure , limped over to him and repeated this same precautionary act before walking over to the final guard she had thrown against the wall. She could hear him breathing through his helmet thus reassuring her through all of this at least ONE of them was still alive "Time for some answers." Reaching down she gently tugged the man's helmet off of his head so she could speak to him face to face, the man seemed human, middle aged perhaps, again with a shaved head, no facial hair, and a very stern face even unconscious. "Wakey wakey!" She began tapping at the side of his head with her foot until he finally regained consciousness, and after taking notice of her stared at her with a very stern and menacing gaze as if to try and maintain some composure.  
"Let's make this simple, okay? I have questions. You I'm sure can answer them. Let's please keep this from getting uglier than it already has, okay?"  
The man said nothing however, he simply stared giving an almost disrespectful scowl, this did not please Vestara at all.  
"Your going to give me the silent treatment, after I literally jut killed all your buddies. SERIOUSLY?!" She began rubbing the bridge of her nose with her fingers irritably before turning back to him with an expression of disdain "Have you ever been shot in your knee, or you ankle? I have. It's not fun. You see ordinarily those kind of injuries would cripple a person permanently, but some smart apple somewhere invented Bacta, helps things heal the way they should. You see until recently I had a hole in my ankle AND my knee. The injuries are healed, but the nerves and muscles are still tender, still sensitives, and those are load bearing joints. Those joints support the full compliment of your body weight, and even though I watch what I eat, I'm wearing body armor, which weighs me down. SO my knee, and my ankle are in EXCRUCIATING PAIN, like..." And in coordination with her words she raised her lightsaber above his right knee "THIS!" And pressed the blade straight through it, the man attempted to scream but Vestara covered his mouth with one of her feet muffling the sound while she used her free hand to channel the force and telekinetically suspend him to the floor preventing hi from thrashing or flailing.  
"Okay now that we have established that A, I can kill you and B, I have no qualms about maiming you I suggest you answer my questions" She then placed her lightsaber's blade against the floor between his legs and slowly began dragging it upwards towards where his legs met "Unless you want to say goodbye to your 'two best friends', because I have a few questions. " Realizing just what it was she was threatening to do his eyes widened and feared stretched across his face "Question number one."

Meanwhile on the upper floor where Vestara had parted with her company, Mirta and Rook wandered through the halls, now littered with corpses of the stations guards, trying to find anything, anywhere that could give them an indication of where Palagus was.  
At each doorway Mirta impatiently tapped on the key pads that controlled the doors, each time she was treated to the sound of an alert informing her she had been denied access to whatever room she was standing in front of resulting in her firing haphazardly with her blaster, after a series of electronic clicks and whirs the doors often opened, though not always, when they did she stuck her head inside and quickly examined the room. Upon seeing what she was looking for wasn't within she proceeded to the next door. In the event that the door didn't open she began impatiently banging in the doors with her fist's until Rook physically stopped her and pulled her away to which she proceeded to the next.  
After finishing every doorway in the hall they were in Mirta gestured for Rook to follow her as she headed towards the next passageway.  
"Gev."  
"WHAT?"  
"You need to calm down."  
"I **AM** CALM!"  
"No you are not, you are literally breaking everything you touch, and you killed everyone,I mean everyone, we needed one of those guards alive to question, to get some information from. And you killed ALL of them."  
"I was in a bad mood AT THE TIME!"  
"This is because of the girl? Because of your friend?"  
Mirta halted in her stride for a moment to turn towards Rook with an absolutely livid expression "Mind your own business!"  
"Way I see it, I technically work for you, so your ability to perform in the field, as well as anything that would compromise that IS my business. And on top of that we are technically related, so good luck getting me to keep to myself."  
Realizing he was going to press the issue she stopped entirely and gripped her fists tightly, before leaning against the closest wall to her "The problem is, is she was my responsibility. I brought her here, somewhere she didn't want to be."  
"She never should have been here at all."  
"I know, her legs weren't fully better yet, it threw off her performance, she wasn't ready for any situation that could ever potentially turn violent. And I assured her things wouldn't."  
"That's certainly all true, but what I meant was she never should have been here, with us, at all. You never should have brought her with you, nothing we do involves her. You said she was former Sith, and the only reason we even allowed you to bring her aboard the ship was because you stressed the FORMER part, but this never had anything to do with her. She played no part in the poisoning of Mandalore's atmosphere, and she wasn't affected by it. WHY was she even here to begin with?"  
"She helped me before I told you."  
"With the Qrepths, yes I know, I was there too, okay. But that doesn't make you her keeper."  
Mirta was beginning to lose her patience with Rook "I never intended to be. She helped me, so I promised to see to it she was taken care of, and I bit off more than i could chew with that promise. The reason I didn't have the funds to pay for Palagus's services in the first place is because I covered her medical expenses! I did that as gratuity for her helping me, for her helping ALL of us! So she was helping in whatever way she could to make up for the inconvenience my lack of funds caused. You may not have wanted her here, but there was a reason!"  
"Yes and first chance she gets to pull her own weight she winds up dead, stellar job taking care of her Gev."  
What happened next was too fast for Rook to even perceive at first. One moment he was standing, then he felt something swipe his feet off the ground and he was in the air unable to stop his descend towards the metal floor, but then a hand gripped a portion of his upper torso armor and pressed down causing him to slam unto the floor with great force, knocking the wind out of him completely. As he gasped for air he realized something was under him, it felt like another hand griping his back similar to his front, before he could ponder this he found himself in the air again, pushed by whatever was beneath him, vaulting upwards and heading at a downwards angle towards the floor again, this time face first. With almost the precise amount of force as before his front slammed against the floor, again rendering him breathless and causing his face to wrench forward and strike the floor with an audible crack, that he guessed was his nose. After a moment or two he sat up and felt his nose, beneath the blood pouring out of it he noticed it wasn't straight anymore, it was broken at an angle and needed to be set, which Mirta had already told him was unpleasant. Looking up at Mirta whom he knew to be his attacker to match her fiery gaze he stared for a moment then sighed heavily "Okay I'll admit that was rude of me to say but, seriously you had to break my nose?"  
"Have I ever come across as someone who takes flack from others, even family?"  
"No, no you haven't. Hence to inordinate amount of corpses."  
Mirta knelt down in front of him "now that we've established that" and fit his nose between two fingers and jerked them to the side snapping it back into place, earning an audible yelp from him "Let's go"  
The two headed down each hall they could breaking open every door they found, searching every room, all in a repetitive cycle, but their effort bore them no fruit, no Palagus, no scientists, no labs, nothing anywhere that could offer a clue of where to go, they were in a large space station with only a vague idea of where in it there objective was.  
Before long they reached a large round almost circular hallway with a very large , and rather dense looking door with a different type keypad in front of it. The door was large enough that one could certainly fit various kinds of equipment through it, and seemed quite sturdy enough to with stand any outside assault.  
"Hey gev, what do you suppose is in here?"  
"A lab most likely ,for testing. This looks like the kind of door the docking bay had, the outer sections of the station where he does his testing are separate from the station itself, and they look like they could be jettisoned in case of emergency. Question is, is this the lab he's in."  
"Don't think so." Rook pointed at the nearby keypad, among other various statistics and serial numbers read the word 'UNOCCUPIED'. "I imagine that's so everyone's careful going in when it is occupied."  
"Yeah and I don't suppose he could have rigged it to give a false reading. But on the upside we seem to have found the outer section of this floor and can search all the labs on this floor now."  
"Yeah, that's true I..."  
Rooks sentence was interrupted by a small beeping sound coming from behind them, as they both whirred around blasters drawn pointing at the source, a doorway on the opposite wall, they waited patiently for who or what might appear.  
"Remember Gev, alive, so we can interrogate. Whoever it is might have answers."  
"I know."  
After a few seconds more the door finally opened, and standing behind it wasn't a guard, but a familiar sight, Vestara Khai.  
"Sup?"  
Both stared somewhat dumbfounded at the sight of their companion seemingly back from the dead standing in from of them, Mirta quickly removed her helmet and walked over to her grabbing her by the shoulders as if to make sure the person in front of her was in fact real.  
"Sevara? Your alive?"  
"Unless someone figured out how to make that whole zombie thing work, yep."  
"But how? You were in a locked elevator, we hard it crash at the bottom of the chute."  
Vestara answered by simply igniting her lightsaber and reaching over to a nearby wall cutting a small circular piece of metal out of it." Cut my way out, then cut my way onto another floor." She then held up her left hand which was wrapped tightly in crimson stained bandages "Messed my hand up in the process, but I lived."  
Mirta looked at the bandaging and could see it was still moist, suggesting she might still be bleeding under it "We'll get your hand fixed when we get back to the ship."  
Rook raised his hand to get her attention "Just curious, how did you find us, and how did you get here on this floor?"  
"I ran in to some guards, and strangest thing most of them seemed to have caught the same violent case of dead." Mirta extended her hand and brushed some of Vestara's hair away from her shoulders exposing her neck, which now had dark red finger shaped bruising on it, before giving her a concerned look "Like I said, violent case. I'm fine." Mirta now noticed Vestara's voice was somewhat hoarse. "After they passed on, the last one gave me a decent bit of information in exchange for me saving him from losing his two best friends."  
Mirta and Rook both cocked their heads not understand her wordplay until Rook suddenly went wide-eyed "NO! You threatened to cut off his...NO! YOU DO NOT DO THAT TO A GUY, EVER! HAVE SOME STANDARDS WOMAN! THERE IS A LINE YOU DON'T CROSS!"  
"Oh forget etiquette I'm through playing nice,I've been shot,strangled,and blown up since I got here. "  
"Something I deeply apologize for, I promised you this was business, not all of this."  
"It's fine Mirta, my plans don't pan out well either. Anyway, the guard I spoke to gave me quite a bit, told me where to find medical supplies to bandage my hand and put pain patches on my legs so I can stand right. And told me where to find this." Reaching behind her she grabbed what appeared to be a data-pad, but on the screen appeard to be none other than the three of them, but from an upward angle. Mirta turned to the side and looked up to see a camera and turned back to the pad Vestara was holding, to realize it was showing what the cameras were recording."There's a security station on each floor apparently where they keep something like this and it has.." pressing on the screen a few times a diagram of the entire station, floor by floor pulled up "...a map of the station, no more getting lost, and a tracker in it so it can tell you exactly where you are."  
Mirta smirked at Rook " You were right, person behind the door did have answers. But still I'm curious how you got here? the last elevator you were in tried to kill you!"  
"Another topic we talked about, each room, elevator, and whatnot has a keypad to access it, in the event of emergencies, like three idiots running around killing everyone, the security is given a master code to open every door, to every room, and this same code can block any remote overrides in all the elevators, thus preventing anyone from, say, dropping it down the chute again."  
This all earn a disbelieving scoff from Rook "Your kidding, this seems too convenient."  
"I thought so to, but the elevator dropping, that's one of it's programmed remote functions, the code was made to lock it out so it couldn't be used against them."  
Mirta began waving her hands to stop the both of them "The details don't matter, what matters is you can tell us which lab Palagus is in, right?"  
"Well for starters, he's not in any of them."  
"Come again."  
"When we killed all those guards back in the first hall, he went to his office at the top of the station, which doubles as a bunker, in case of emergencies. In fact the reason we couldn't find anyone before is all the staff save for the security was evacuated through the other dock, which by the by the Kandosii can use. Obviously I asked about this."  
"I'm gad to hear about the dock but your saying, we aren't even on the right floor?" Vestara quickly shook her head. "Great!"  
"A minor oversight, but we now know where he is, and how to get to him, that's more than I can say about us an hour ago when we were wandering aimlessly."  
"I suppose."  
"There is an elevator nearby that we can use to take us almost directly to his office. Several of the rooms on the station I've learned are interconnected, and they don't have any camera's inside most of them, for privacy purposes. We can cut through several of them without anyone knowing where our exact location is, and then our only problem is getting into the room itself. But even if we get to the office undetected, as unlikely as that is, they will know we are on that floor,as they'll no doubt be monitoring whatever elevator we use, and they'll know where we are going, there's only one thing we'd be after. They will have security, a lot ,waiting for us."  
"Let's say all of that is true, what if they find some way around that code you have, what's to stop them from finding a way to drop the next one."  
Vestara simply pointed at Mirta" Her."  
"Why me?"  
"They want you, the man I spoke to didn't know why, he was just following orders, but they still nonetheless want you, ALIVE. Did you ever notice the elevator didn't drop until after Mirta exited, the only reason chess piece is fine is because he walked out at the same time, I stayed inside and someone else took the opportunity to kill someone who wasn't Mirta. Despite everything that's happened, for whatever reason they want you, you need to be alive for it. No matter what.  
"I want to know about that, I want to know what their fascination with me is. Fine, let's get this over with, if there's an elevator nearby let's go. I'm tired, I'm angry and I want an explanation. Sev' show us where we're going."

 **A/N Attention all readers.**

 **Testicles**

 **That is all, you can go now.**


	15. Chapter 15

The use of the data-pad Vestara had acquired made their trek considerably quickly and easier, more than once along the way they could hear security passing by the rooms they were crossing through. True to her word they came to an elevator exactly where she said they would, and upon entering Vestara tapped in the code the guard had given her and the it ascended, no interruptions, no calamity. Everything so far seemed to be as she had said.

When the elevator reached the top floor Mirta pressed on a button to keep the doors shut before turning to Vestara. "You know exactly where we need to go right?"  
"Yep, there will be a room close by that connects to another, we can follow it through to several more, a whole chain that will lead almost directly to office we need to reach."  
"Almost?"  
"The rooms will stop linking before then, but if someone where to say, have an effective cutting tool, one might be able to carve their way closer to it, without them knowing where we were exiting."  
"So you can get us right to it?"  
"If we hurry, eventually they are going to catch on to what we're doing."  
"Okay then, can you run?" Vestara nodded to which Mirta finally released the button allowing the elevator doors to open"Then let's go."  
The three made haste out of the elevator heading left down the hall as the schematic Vestara held indicated, the could hear guards already pursuing them, and the echo of blaster fire as bolts flew past them.  
When they reached the door to the room they were looking for Vestara quickly tapped in the security code to open it, turning to the guards she shoved both hands towards them sending them all plummeting backwards onto each other, before stabbing the keypad with her saber "Now they can't follow us. Get in."  
All three clamored inside before the door shut permanently, quickly scanning the room Vestara spotted their next exit and ran over to it. "By the way I'm pretty sure they all have detonators on them so, they probably can just blow the door open." Mirta and Rook gave rather concerned looks from beneath their helmets "Just reminding you we might want to hurry."  
The three continued to make haste through each room, firing on any door-lock they spotted so as to slow down their pursuers, room after room Vestara watched on the pad they were nearing their destination, they were drawing close. When they reached the end of the chain of offices, Vestara quickly cut through a small section of the wall, wide enough for each to fit through, but not enough that any of the security, in their broad armor, could fit through.  
Mirta began tapping one of her gun's impatiently, as if expecting someone to appear at any moment, "So how far from his 'bunker' as you described it, are we?"  
"Just down the hall outside this room."  
"Could we get closer?"  
"I wouldn't recommend it, be a waste if after all this we just walked right into a horde of them."  
Rook began scratching his with with a grin."I suppose, unless you pulled of that trick from before."  
Vestara began irritably rubbing the bridge of her nose "Last time was a lucky fluke, I had never done that before, and it didn't even work to it's fullest potential. Plus it kind of made me dizzy. I cant just go throwing that around all the time, I'll exhaust myself too quickly."  
"What about your lightning, Gev mentioned you favor it."  
"The guards armor appears to be insulated, it cushions certain blunt force, and dilutes the electric current, it hurts them but not enough to stop them, last time I tried, I got rammed in the ribs straight into a wall and then this." Gesturing to the bruising on her neck. "I can throw them, but that only does so much."  
"So I suppose now would be the time to mention, I have a smoke grenades on me?"Mirta and Vestara both glared at him before hitting him in the side of the head. "Ow what did I do to deserve that?"  
"You never mentioned before now you had something like that, that could have been useful earlier."  
"I have a dark some what deep-seated desire to spite everyone."  
"I hate you chess piece, I hate you."  
"Okay, most mass produced models, like the armor they are wearing don't have extra features, likely they don't have something like I.F. equipped, apparently the stormtroopers didn't and they had imperial funding. So he creates and opening, Sevara can you open the door to Palagus's office?"  
"Maybe, the code might work. The guard I spoke to passed out before I could ask."  
"Passed out?"  
"Apparently it's hard to stay conscious when your missing a kneecap." Mirta simply grimaced.

When the three finally came to the door leading to the hall, Vestara ignited her saber, Rook readied the grenades he was holding waiting only to be released from his grip. As the door slid open they were met by one of the guards standing right in front of it. luckily facing the other direction having anticipated they would exit from a previous room. Noticing however the door next to him had opened he turned to see what had happened only to be met with a frantic Vestara running him through with her obsidian blade. An act that caught the attention of several other guards in the hall.  
"THROW IT CHESS PIECE!"  
On her cue Rook released the smoke grenade enveloping the hall in a thick cloud within moments, the random directions the blaster fire came from confirmed Mirta's theory they couldn't see either of them, but neither could Vestara, who had refused to bring her helmet, on account of she didn't like how it looked ,aesthetically speaking.  
Vestara felt a tug on her arm as Rook guided her through the smoke, while Mirta, who had better aim, laid suppressing fire on all of the guards. When they reached the end of the hall where the office was met several other's waiting for them, but they too couldn't see and fired haphazardly at any noise they caught. Vestara could their presence enough to tell where they were and ran through them cutting each down with a quick blow through the gaps in their armor, ordinarily she felt that wouldn't have been so easy, but their visibility was compromised, and being an 18 year old girl she was smaller than them, which made her a somewhat difficult target, and it's hard to dodge an attack one can't see.  
After each of the guards at the door had been dispatched she noticed a small crackling sound accompanied by a small flickering light "We have a problem."  
Groaning audibly Rook stomped over to her "What did you do this time."  
"Oh screw you, someone, not me, shot the key pad to the door, probably one of the idiots she's shooting."  
"Any bright ideas."  
Staring at her blade for a moment and then staring back at the door an idea came " _Time to see just what all this black crystal can do._ Make sure you cover me!" Pressing the blade deep into the door she felt resistance, but the blade eventually burned through. " _Easy,easy._ " She then began to lift up cutting through a large length of the door, enough for them to walk through, " _So it can take a lot apparently._ "as Vestara finally finished cutting through the door she gripped the section she had severed with the force and began to pull it out of remainder of the door slowly dragging it out of place, but due to the density this was a slow process.  
"Can you hurry up with that, honestly how hard is it to pick up a door?!"  
"Well Pretty hard when the door is as thick as your SKULL chess piece!" As soon as the severed section was cleared Vestara jerked her arms to the side whilst shouting to her two allies "DOWN!" The very dense blast door soared through the air bludgeoning many guards whom unsuccessfully attempted to avoid it, as well as ricocheting of the wall into even more of their adversaries. And while all this was amusing it was little comfort to Vestara who understood that getting into the room didn't matter if they were surrounded "I made an opening can you two deal with the rest?"  
Mirta turned to Rook whilst holding several small spherical objects and gestured with them for him to produce his own supply of the same item. After he did so Vestara realized they were now both holding literally two handfuls of thermal detonators and stared wide eyed at Mirta "Think you can guide these to their targets?"  
Vestara knew where she had gotten this idea wasn't particularly happy to what she was referencing but understood the soundness of her plan and simply nodded. With her confirmation the two Mandalorians threw literally every detonator they had in their hands, leaving Vestara to guide them to the remaining guards in the hall but with enough of a gap between them so the explosion was as wide-spread as possible. When each one landed on the ground near their intended targets Mirta quickly grabbed Vestara and began pulling her towards the make-shift doorway while signaling Rook to follow suit "Everyone in NOW! "  
As the three clamored through the doorway and quickly got behind the door frames, which were thick and extended partially outward from the wall, they could hear the initial explosion. Then another, and several others followed sending a roaring blaze through the doorway way past the trio and filling the center of the room with flames that after a brief, destructive moment dispersed.  
Mirta looked down at Vestara who was staring wide-eyed at where previously a small inferno had occupied a space in the room they stood "Are you okay?"  
"I would greatly appreciate it if things stopped exploding today, just please. "  
Rook, who was chuckling at their recent endevour stood up and dusted himself off, "I like makin things go boom, catches peoples attention."  
As the three collected themselves Mirta and Vestara stared around the room as they knew it not to be unoccupied before their rather dramatic entrance, while Rook stared back into the hall. Wall were warped, bodies were scorched,and it seemed for the moment their fighting was over until his attention was diverted by the shrill yet familiar sound of someone screaming at them.  
"DO NOT MOVE, NONE OF YOU MOVE! "  
Turning to see who it was Rook saw Palagus's assistant, who's name they never got before, holding a rather large blaster and frantically shifting its aim back and forth between the three of them. "So your the one I spoke to before, over the comm. You need to chill, when you get exited you sound like someone who is conscious during some sort of invasive and uncomfortable medical examination."  
"SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU LIE DOWN ON THE GROUND RIGHT NOW! I AM NOT JOKING!"  
Vestara had grown irritated by both his shouting and threatening them, that coupled with her newfound knowledge that it was he who ordered her death she just wanted to make him shut up, extended her hand she telekinetically yanked the blaster out of his hand with minimal effort, resulting in a shrill yet wildly humorous shriek from the Mon Calamari. "You can shut up now."  
Rook walked over to the quivering man, with a large knife in hand, and grabbed him tightly by the back of his neck and held the knife up to one of his very large eyes"Guess what your gonna do for me."  
"W...w..what?"  
"Your going to get on whatever comm system you use to communicate with every guard on this station, and your gonna call your dog's off." He then tightened his grip on his neck"OKAY?!"  
"YES, Yes fine, I'll do it, just please stop!" Rook let go of him very suddenly causing him to fall limp for a second on to the floor before scrambling to his feet, as hurrying over to a computer at one of the desk's in the room, typing in various login information as he accessed the terminal, until he accessed the comm system's for the station, as if began to pull up a directory of who all an open line was to be established with, when Rook put his arm around the the assistants shoulder, knife still in hand and pointing at his face.  
"You'll be a good sport and make sure this message is received by EVERYONE, yes?"  
"Yes o...o..of course."  
"Good."  
As soon as the comms system was pulled up he slid on a head piece with a mic attached "All personnel, I repeat, ALL personnel, disengage the search for the three Mandalorians in the station, again disengage the search for the Mandalorians, the situation had been rectified, attend to all wounded and deceased throughout the station."  
Vestara chuckled at how he had refereed to her as a Mandalorian, but given her current attire she couldn't blame him " _If he only knew._ "  
Mirta walked over to the desk at the farthest end of the room and with her vibro-blade drawn reached behind it and pulled out the Bothan Ord Palagus. "Hey BUDDY. You know you got a funny way of doing business." She then held the knife close to Palagus's face "We come, we talk shop, settle on a price, AND YOU TRY TO KILL US, have I left anything out, anything at all?!"  
In response to her remarks the Bothan's eyes widened with surprise "WHOA,WHOA,WHOA,WHOA, listen here the only ones doing any killing is you three maniacs."  
"Excuse me? Did you or did you not order your guard to take me into custody AND KILL EVERYONE ELSE?!"  
"WHAT?! NO, well yes I ordered them to confine you ,but not kill anyone. Your the only ones who have been doing the killing"  
Mirta was growing impatient until suddenly Vestara started humming, earlier they had established she would do so for their business meetings if she sensed the person they were meeting with was being honest, and at the moment he was. Rook remembering this as well was quite confused "Hold on, your assistant there said to me over the comms personally, that all your men were to kill me and Sevara there, he even had your stations defenses open fire on our ship!"  
Disbelief stretched across his face as he stared at his assistant utterly dumbfounded "What did you do?"  
"What needed to be done!"  
"We were only supposed to detain her, that all that we needed, nothing else."  
"Oh, and everyone else, all of those other Mando, who work for her, were just going to ignore the fact that we abducted her, the Mand'alores granddaughter, the only grandchild of BOBA KRIFFING FETT! I gave the order you wouldn't! "  
Mirta could still hear Vestara humming, and having realized what was happening, walked over to the Mon Calamari "So you ordered the death's of all those Mando, all of my family? You tried to kill them all?" He opened his mouth to speak but never got the chance, as she quickly drew her blaster and shot point blank between the eyes. Palagus cringed as the body crumpled backwards into a chair that was behind him, while blood began to seep out of his eyes sockets, nostrils and mouth th sight of which nearly made Palagus get sick. Mirta unfazed by her act walked back over to Palagus and once again held her knife to his face. "Now I want answers, I want to know whats going on or so help me I will peel your hairy face off!"  
Vestara ceased her humming for a moment as she limped over to and placed her hand on Mirta's shoulder "I don't think he'll be able to speak without a face, I'm not expert but I think he needs that. If not I know the only thing your going to gt out of him at that point is horrendous ear-piercing screaming."  
To this Mirta slightly distanced the knife from his face but made sure he understood he wasn't out of danger yet. "Point still stands, you have some explaining to do. Now TALK!"  
"Okay, okay, listen I didn't want any of this, NONE of this was my idea!"  
Mirta could hear that Vestara had resumed her humming, signaling he was being honest "Go on."  
"You made an appointment to meet with me, but when you got here I was busy and you had to wait for several hours, and that was rude. The problem was shortly before you got here, I recieved a comm from a certain unsavory individual."  
"You already told us all this before!"  
"I didn't tell you everything. The person with whom I spoke was Garrys Kreig."  
Mirta tilted her head with her eyebrow raised "And am I supposed to know who that is?"  
"I don't imagine so. He is, in short, a raving lunatic. And unfortunately he frequently makes use of my services."  
"What for? What would a 'raving lunatic' need of your services?"  
"I don't know, I didn't ask, primarily because he tends to bring enough firepower to ensure NOBODY gets nosy into his business. Unfortunately my now former assistant was so frightened of him, he had a tendency to divulge unnecessary amounts of information to him. So when he called back ,after you gave me a sample of the virus you wanted me to examine, my assistant mentioned who my current client was. And that is where all this trouble started." Mirta narrowed her eyes listening to hear Vestara continue her hum, "As soon as he heard who you were AND that you were still here, he went ballistic and began making rather vulgar threats of what would happen if I didn't detain you for him."  
"And now we reach the point I've been curious about ALL night, WHY ME? What is so special about ME?!"  
"Technically nothing."  
"My grandfather right?"  
Palagus nodded "Apparently some years back,Garrys and Fett found themselves working the same job, but on opposite sides of it. And while I don't know the intimate details, as per his reputation you can imagine Fett triumphed in that conflict. He left Garrys in pieces, LITERALLY!"  
"Ew."  
"Yes ew, the man is a nightmare and a half to look at, he's literally stitched together using various cybernetics, he's far more machine than human now, but all crazy!"  
"Did he say specifically what he want's me for?"  
"He said he was going to get back at your grandfather, but what he actually plans to do he didn't say."  
"And you didn't ever ask, right?"  
"I'm happy knowing as little about his business as possible."  
Mirta brought the edge of her knife right against his face "Where are you meeting him, obviously he isn't here now, so where were you going to deliver me to him, here or somewhere else."  
"I...I don't know, he said to contact him once I had you contained and to supply proof of such, then he would make arrangements, didn't want anyone telling anyone else where to find him."  
For a moment this sounded both intelligent and feasible, something someone would actually do as a precaution, in these circumstances, but then she noticed something, or rather noticed something wasn't there to be noticed. Vestara's humming, she had stopped, which meant he was lying, she began to press the knife against his skin so as to cause discomfort but not cut him." Your lying."  
"What?! No I'm..." He noticed her undaunting glare and knew h likely couldn't fool her for too long "Okay fine, we had a rendevouz set up, some place remote that he owns."  
"WHERE?!"  
"Listen this man is insane, certifiable okay. He uses words and expressions like 'Murderize' and 'Kill you to death', if he ever found out I crossed him..."  
"He's not going to do anything, BECAUSE IM GOING TO KILL HIM!"  
"O..okay, I guess when put that way, I can certainly see your perspective. I have the coordinates to the exact location where he wanted me to take you, I can give them to you and anything else you would need on him."  
Mirta pondered his offer for a moment before a mischievous glare entered her eyes"Any info you have would be appreciated, but I think you and I can agree the events of today demand we take a second glance at our previous business, I believe for the inconvenience of today I'm entitled to a substantial discount. What do you think?"  
"The business man in me wants to tell you to go have sex with yourself. But the realist understands your ornery and belligerent right now and arguing is tantamount to masochism."  
"So glad we see eye-to-eye. Now on the subject of our previous business."  
"Ah, yes. I did actually have a chance to examine the sample you gave me before all of this started."  
"And?"  
"And, unfortunately I need more from you, more data that is. You gave me a sample, but upon examining it I discovered many of it's components were chemically altered, whoever made it took a preexisting virus and changed it. But no matter how hard I looked I found no trace, no record of the original. This shouldn't be, but someone has erased any clue of this viruses existence."  
"I fail to see the problem."  
"In short if I don't know what it was before, I can't figure out how it was altered, and I can't confidently synthesize a counter-agent. If I don't know what changes to account for exactly, whatever I make might not work right, and you might still be killed. If you want me to do the job, fine, but I need more data on the virus so I CAN do the job."  
Mirta began snarling audibly before walking over and literally punching the corpse of Palagus's assistant out of the chair he was in, and proceeding to sit in the chair herself, both hand rubbing her temples "You" pointing at Palagus "Give Sevara there whatever info you have on this Garrys. Rook call the ship back and let them know it's safe to dock, and also that we have somewhere to go, SOON."  
Whilst everyone took to the assignment she had given Mirta sat there ruing what had seemed to be a wasted endeavor, after all this Palagus couldn't even make them a cure, and now, now she had to go hunting. This wasn't how she saw this day going when she had woken up.

 **A/N And after all that violence it ends with a kick in the nads for Mirta, metaphorically speaking, but hey theres a reason,and if you read the novels you might be able to tell where this is going.**

 **Also to everyone reading this chapter keep in mind this was part of a Quintuple update, your probably looking for chapter 11**


	16. Chapter 16

Various whirs and clicks from different tools and instruments filled the halls of the Mandalorian ship the 'Kandossii' as numerous crew members were hard at work fixing whatever damage they could to the shp, a result of a recent skirmish that debatably shouldn't have occurred in the first place. Mirta Gev silently made her way to her quarters, her clothes dirtied by various fluids from the ships internal components and slightly burnt from stray sparks where welding and saudering were needed, her hands and face had a thin layer of grease, and her mind in a million places at once. But confident that she had done her part in balming their current predicament she headed to her room for what she felt was a well deserved shower and rest.  
"Gev!" Turning to see who addressed her she saw Rook, still wearing his battle armor, which it itself was still riddled with various burns from blaster fire."Do you have a minute?"  
"Make it fast, I am disgusting."  
A grin bled through while he pursed his lips "Oh, don't say such things, you know I'll have a million retorts before you even have time to render me unconscious."  
"So long as you recognize the innate danger of your actions, I accept that as consent to maim you on the grounds of potential stupidity. Now what is it?"  
His demeanor became slightly more serious in response to her question. "I wanted to speak to you about what happened back on the station."  
"Do please be specific, ALOT happened on the station, and I'm in no mood to guess."  
"I mean what happened after your friend took her little tumble."  
"You mean when she was dropped down an elevator shaft and mangled her hand, that?"  
"Yes, you threw quite the tantrum, you were literally destroying everything you got your hands on."  
"First, it wasn't a tantrum, and second, whatever outburst I made in no way impeded our progress or in any other way complicated matters, we were looking for a guy who was on the opposite end of the station."  
"None of which we were privy to. But, you weren't thinking right, you were violent and unhinged when that was really among the last things we needed."  
"Oh, pardon me for being upset when somebody dies, when somebody in my care DIES!"  
"That's not what I meant."  
"Then pray tell ,what is the point of this conversation?"  
"My point is that you were acting incredibly upset, distraught even, over someone you don't know all that well."  
"Again I ask, is there something wrong with that?"  
"Your not getting what I'm asking. WHY?"  
"Why what?"  
"You barely know her, you've known her a couple of months TOPS. And yet you seem almost protective of her, and you took it real hard when you thought she was dead. WHY?"  
Mirta now understood what he was asking and ,visibly displeased with his quandary, covered her face with her hand while tilting her head back "WOW. Of all the conversations I've ever been involved in, I never thought I'd be asked to justify the amount of compassion I show an individual.  
You know what, fine. Allow me to answer your question with one of my own. Tell me, what was your life like before all of this, all this malarkey with the Virus? Running around, chasing any lead that might allow us to go home. What was your life like? Describe it."  
It was now Rook's turn to be confused. While he understood her question and what she was asking he didn't see how it was relevant but figuring she had to have a point he relented and answered "Uneventful."  
"That's it? 'Uneventful', that's how you would describe your life?"  
"We aren't all the spawn of the galaxies greatest bounty hunter. Some of us had fairly simple lives before Caedus made things...interesting."  
"Okay, now what about your family?"  
"What about them?"  
"Who do you have in your life? Who are you trying to go home to?"  
"I don't really see how this is relevant to our discussion, but virtually everyone is waiting for me back home. My paternal grandfather, the clone to whom I am related, he and my grandmother passed of natural causes years ago. Their son, my father died while at war with the Vong. My mother remarried and had more children, but my sibling don't share blood with any clones, so they are all back home. Everyone in my family who the virus would have harmed, save for me, is already passed. So Everyone in my life is back on Mandalore, I'm trying to get back to EVERYBODY. Now, of what relevance was this?"  
"It's relevant because everything you just said tells me you wouldn't understand why her well being matters to me."  
"And you've drawn this conclusion how?"  
"Because you have never had nothing. You've never had life take everything and leave you with nothing."  
"And this situation we are in doesn't count towards that concept, how exactly?"  
"Because this is temporary, big temporary, but it can be fixed. It can be undone, somehow, then you go back to everyone you've left behind. Me on the other hand, I don't have that much, money and military authority don't count, I have at most two,maybe three, very important people in my life.  
 **But** , when my mother died, for a moment I had absolutely nothing, circumstance had taken everything from me."  
"You had your grandfather didn't you?"  
"When you spend several months deceiving a person for the purpose of leading them to their eventual gruesome murder, you don't exactly consider them among that which life hasn't stolen from you." Gesturing towards the room behind her "Her, Sevara, she's now in that same situation, circumstances may be different but the result is the same. She has been left with nothing, her family is dead, her home world descimated, and even if it wasn't her defecting from the Sith has ensured she could never return either way. And she has through various circumstances lost everyone she still cared for. She has absolutely nothing at this juncture in her life, save for what little it could be argued she has here."  
"And how exactly does this make her your problem?"  
"Oh, it doesn't, but when I stop and think about it I was a hair's breadth away from being in that same situation, and well...I don't quite like what I see. It's slightly unnerving when you dodge a bullet but later meet the person that that bullet struck. So, yes I am sympathetic to her to a degree. Some humane part of my mind hopes in the end she figures everything out as I had."  
"You've got your life figured out?"  
"As much as it can be, given the circumstances. My life got much better. But as I said you wouldn't understand any of that, your life has been 'uneventful'.  
Now tell me is it wrong, is it a crime for me to be sympathetic to one in such dire straits?" Opting not to speak he simply shook his head "While we are on the subject of her, this isn't an arrangement where she sits around and does nothing. She's working off her debt to me, SO I get someone with a very lucrative skill-set, and she gets a place to lay her head and figure things out, provided she pulls her weight in the meantime. And I think it could be argued she has so far." To his she received a slight nod "So I'd like it if you would stop complaining about her to me, you agreed to her being with us provided she didn't cause problems, and so far I think I'M the only one who has complicated matters, after all back at the station I'M the one who everyone was after."  
"Very well."  
"Besides, among other things she possesses an element of surprise that most won't account for, after all, how many people will think to prepare for a force-sensitive individual when dealing with a group of Mando?"  
"I can't imagine anyone considering that possibility."  
"And her ability to physically sense when others are less than honest with us, I imagine will come in very handy, who knows she might be able to find the person that can actually help us."  
"If she actually finds what we've spent the past couple of years searching for, I will rescind every negative comment I will have at that point ever made made of her, and shall never speak ill of her henceforth."  
"If for no reason other than her look of vindication, I heartily look forward to holding you to that. Now unless you had some other purpose besides admonishing my capacity for sympathy, I am in need of a wash."  
"No. We're done." With nothing else he simply turned and walked away leaving Mirta free to resume her previous activities, but no less curious as to what the actual purpose of that conversation was.  
Upon finally entering her and Vestara's shared quarters she found her living mate siting at a small table against one of the rooms wall her left arm resting in her lap wrapped in fresh bandages and her head pressed against what appeared to be a microscope of some sort, which she frequently adjusted using her right hand, but Mirta couldn't tell what it was she was examining.  
"What exactly are you doing?"  
Vestara did not even turn away from her project before quipping back to her"I'm staring into a microscope, what's it look like?"  
"Touche, I suppose I walked into that. Very well, what are you looking at through said microscope?"  
"The crystal you gave me, the black one."  
"Is there something wrong with it."  
"Oh on the contrary, it actually function's quite well. Better than I thought it would. Which is what had me curious."  
"I don't follow, it working right has you curious? You know what I don't use lightsabers so it should be no surprise I don't understand, explain please."  
"Every Lightsaber uses a special type of crystal, commonly referred to as Kyber, to power it and project it's blade, because the blade is channeled through the crystal, the color of that blade is the same as said crystal. In some cases certain types of other crystals or even gems can be used in substitution, but one has to be able to tell if it is of acceptable quality. However it is possible to synthesize artificial crystal's given how uncommon Kyber is."  
"Okay, so what's the problem with this one?"  
"You told me it's from a Jedi of the old republic, which dissolved over one thousand years ago, so this crystal is over a millennia old.  
Every crystal will gradually deteriorate through constant use, and every lightsaber is designed to maintain the blade it projects. So when something comes in contact with the blade, the beam that projects it intensifies to some degree,which gradually breaks down the crystal over time. In some cases if the blade presses against something it can't cut for too long, the crystal will outright crack or shatter within the handle.  
Now if done right, an synth crystal will be of such higher quality and durability it can indefinitely withstand constant use, and produce a stronger blade. Sith almost exclusively favor synth crystals, because they break natural crystal's. This is also why they are all red by the way."  
"Again what's wrong with the black crystal?"  
"Oh nothing, I just realized that given that is cut through that door at Palagus's office so easily, which I'm sure you noticed was almost a foot and a half thick, without shorting out out cracking, and given how old it is it had to be synthetic to still be functioning so well."  
Out of frustration Mirta began rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Perhaps we are speaking different languages, relevance?!"  
"Oh, it just means it's better than I thought it would be, that's all. Not as good as my old one, but quite satisfactory."  
"Your old crimson one of higher quality or just better because it's newer, less usage?"  
Finally turning away from her project to face Mirta as they spoke "Neither, it simply is made of different materials than most synth crystals. It's made of a very special ore called Lignen, it's very rare because the Sith hoarded it to build constructs like ship's or temples ,etc."  
Sitting down nearby Mirta picked up the small black crystal from the tray it sat on and stared at it "And what's so special about this 'Lignen'?"  
"It's somehow naturally receptive to the energies given off by the dark side, by building constructs out of it a Sith could become stronger by simply standing within it's walls. But when refined into a crystal, it can empower one by them simply wielding a Lightsaber powered by it. Back on the station I realized some of my abilities weren't as powerful or effective as I had expected, which makes me realize that given my constant use of Lignen I might not be as powerful as I had thought. Somewhat demoralizing if you ask me."  
"This sounds pretty high-end, no offense but how'd you get one? This sound's like it would only be something they'd give to the higher-ups if it's so rare."  
"Well one day I was minding my own business, when suddenly a...how did you put it, oh yes, a 'giant flying metal space eyeball' came up and started chatting with me. Since I was the one Ship chose to make contact with they gave me a Lignen crystal. Essentially I won the lottery."  
"I suppose so, bit you say it cut's better and it makes you stronger just by holding it, what's the catch?"  
"The high energy output of Lignen generates alot of heat, which is what makes the blades it produces so much better, but the intense heat gradually burns the crystal itself until it's nothing but ash."  
"Sounds rather defeatist if you ask me, it's real powerful but it slowly destroys itself, like a flamethrower made of paper mache.  
Well while on the subject of superior weaponry." Reaching over to a small metal case near the table, she unlatched the lid and produced from inside what appeared to be a large knife with a slightly curved blade. "I think you should use this from now on."  
Vestara reached out and took the knife, it seemed like a fairly standard combat knife, but the handle had some weight to it, and their seemed to be a button or trigger just beneath the guard where ones finger would press against."You know I have several knives of my own, right?"  
"I've seen them, their okay but this is a vibro-blade, it's better."  
"What pray tell is a Vibro-blade?"  
"Basically what the name might suggest, a knife that vibrates."  
"Kinky."  
"Oh hush, it vibrates at a high frequency allowing it to cut objects, or people, much more effectively. The ultrasonic vibration weakens the molecules of whatever it comes in contact with allowing it to slide through easily, the better the knife is before the generator is installed the better it will be afterwards."  
"So how good is this knife in particular?"  
"Fairly decent given that it's made of Beskar."  
"Am I supposed to know what that is?"  
Mirta gave a big grin to this question. "No, no your not, at all. It's an old mandalorian secret. We have a method to create a durable metal that can withstand any lightsaber."  
"Bull."  
"Nope it's been proven many times over, why do you think people consider us a threat to Jedi, we make things out of a virtually indestructible metal that only we know how to make."  
"Only **you** , the Mandalorians know how?"  
"Yep, it's considered one of the greatest taboo's in our culture to tell ANYONE how to make it, we're talking horrid pain followed by being kicked off he planet, which if I'm any indication is something noone takes well."  
"And your giving this to me because?"  
"Because very soon we will be at the coordinates Palagus gave us to go find this Kreig character, and I need you equipped to make people stop having pulses."  
Vestara responsively held up and waved her bandaged hand, "In what way am I physically capable of engaging in combat, with this useless appendage and my spindly legs?"  
"Simple instead of your saber you use a blaster, you know how to shoot right?" Vestara simply nodded "Then do that, don't use your saber unless you feel you must, it allows you an element of surprise that way, and as for your legs, just medicate yourself. Worked before."  
"Do you even have a plan for what our about to do?"  
"Find the useless Dikut who stuck his nose in my business, find out his problem, and should it be irreconcilable, make him and any others who should get in my way very dead."  
"So, 'go forth and murder' is your plan?"  
"I had a substantially bad day because of him, I don't plan on being gentle. Just make sure your rested up before we get there. You proved before your capable of sensing trouble, I may need that again."  
Vestara simply gave a small acknowledging nod and with that Mirta stood up and headed for the refresher that was attached to their room leaving, Vestara back to what she was doing before.

After a few more moments of examining the black crystal Vestara felt an eery sensation in her head. For a moment she didn't recognize it and looked around the room from her chair, searching for anything that might be causing this unusual feeling.  
But then an image flashed in her head, an image of an almost menacing luminous blue eye floating in a deep blackness, around the eye was a shape ,a round shape, that after a few moments she recognized.  
Ship.  
Ship was trying to speak to her, but in all honesty she did not wish to speak to him. As of late Vestara had begun to ponder the influence he had had on her life, how quite possibly if he had never come to her world her entire family might still live, and she might still have a home to which she could return. It was true these acts were to doing of the force being Abeloth, but she had always felt it was Ship who exposed them to her, but still recognized that these events were possibly inevitable and Ship's actual role was smaller than she knew.  
But she knew she for certain she didn't wish to speak with him right at that point, she wasn't sure when she would feel ready to do so. She wasn't at all pleased with how he tried so hard to manipulate her, to direct her life without giving her any indication as to the endgame, what it was they were making their way to.  
It seemed that her well being, her life only mattered so long as she had a role to play in his machinations, he gave her an important title but never seemed to offer the respect such a title would demand. He called her a Sith lord, or in her case Sith lady, but still continued to direct her, to order her around. And if she objected he became stern. She had for a while wondered who served who.  
The image permeated in her mind for several moments whilst she tried to push it away, she wasn't sure whether she was actually seeing Ship floating in the blackness space, or if the darkness that enshrouded him in her mind was purely metaphorical, but she did know he wasn't welcome in her head at that moment continued to resist his mental invasion.  
For reason's she knew not he was very persistent on making contact with her, and the sensation it was leaving in her head was almost unpleasant at this point, she could hear what sounded like his voice in the far back end of her mind, but it was distant and garbled leaving nothing tangible to discern.  
After a few moments she began to grip her head with her right hand as the mental barrage had become painful, moments passed by as she fought to remove him from her mind, but he fought back resisting her efforts quite adamantly. As their mental joust continued the noise she thought to be his distorted voice became louder and more intense, she tried to cover her ears but the noise came from within, there was no blocking it out. She was now in physical pain from all of this, leading her to wonder what he could possibly want so bad he was fighting so hard to enter her mind.  
Little by little it became more difficult to resist him and for a moment she entertained the idea of actually allowing him to speak and be done with it, but sure enough eventually the image began to fade, the light in her mind dwindled as if slowly burning out, and the spherical shape of his form faded. She had held out long enough for him to get the message.  
Even after his image faded and the distorted voice had muted, she continued to hold herself as the pain in her head subsided ever so slowly, not realizing how uncomfortable she might have appeared to another. Her vigil was broken when she felt something come in contact with her shoulder and she shot up turning towards the source. Much to her relief it was no threat, simply Mirta who had finished washing herself and was now dressed for bed, staring cautiously at her roommate.  
"Are you alright? Did something happen? You don't look well at all."  
Not having realized how much time had passed during her mental spar with Ship Vestara began to worry about how this could affect her in the future should he try to pry into her thoughts during a critical moment. Not mentioning this however she simply sat back down, turned towards the window of their room and stared for moment.  
That is until something caught her eye, something distant. A small light, a small blue light. Too close to be a star, but far enough away that none would immediately notice. She continued to stare at what she knew to be Ship's distant figure, and she had little doubt he was staring back at her, as much as he could at least. Not wanting to leave Mirta waiting too long that she might get suspicious she chose to answer in an almost empty voice with her head still turned towards the window, staring at the distant menacing figure floating in the black.  
"I'm perfectly fine."

 **A/N SHITPISSFUCKCUNTCOCKSUCKERMOTHERFUCKERTITS! It's been like 4 or 5 months since I updated this bitch DAMN! I need to get on the ball I wanted to be much further than this by now, BTW like before this will be part of a large update going all the way to chapter 20!  
To anyone curious yes it was relevant for me establish the black crystal as synthetic you'll find out later. And does anyone but me think Mandalorian Vibro-blades sound like the weapons from MetalGear Rising?  
Also Ship is still a douche.  
P.S. My grammar sucks, yes I know, I half assed alot of it so I could just post it and be done with it, I apologize profusely.**


	17. Chapter 17

The chosen rendezvous point Kreig had arranged between him and Palagus sat on a desert planet just outside the system Palagus himself generally did business, likely done to remove any potential suspicion from Palagus. Vestara herself had never been to this world, but given her history that didn't say much, She didn't even bother learning the name of this planet, she saw very little reason to learn much of any place they went for only fleeting period's of time, she still didn't know the name of the world Ship had sent them for her to receive medical treatment weeks earlier.  
Looking over a map of this particular world she saw that much of the planet was unoccupied due to various portions of the surface being complete deserts and not at all prime for construction of any settlement, and the area they were to find this Garrys Kreig was a good distance away from any settlement.  
" _Good, at least the possibility of outside interference is remote at best. Then again, when your surrounded by absolutely nothing for miles in every direction its hard to be snuck up upon, what exactly does Mirta plan on doing?_ "  
As they neared the planet Vestara once again garbed herself in the Mando armor Mirta loaned her, but covered herself in her own black robe so as to provide herself some cover from the desert, as well as give herself more places to conceal weaponry.  
Whilst she gathered her lightsaber and the knife Mirta loaned her Vestara glanced out the window as the bright planet, tanned by the burning sand on it's surface, came into view. As they neared it she noticed a small object becoming more and more visible from the light reflecting off the planet's surface, she couldn't be sure but it almost looked like Ship, once again gazing at her from a great distance, or perhaps he never left she wasn't sure. Either way it irked her.  
" _Why won't you leave me be_?" As she finished readying herself Mirta returned to their shared living space, likely to check on her.  
"You ready?" Vestara simply nodded while tucking away a mid-sized blaster she had been left. Mirta glanced over at the nearby table and saw the almost dome-shaped helmet that went with her armor still lying there. "You really should wear the helmet, it's important to cover your head."  
"Nope."  
"And why not?"  
"Because it looks stupid on me."  
Mirta face-palmed at hearing this "Are you really so vain, you would forgo headgear?"  
"I was raised by very vain people, in a very vain society. There are cultures that believe vanity to be a sin, to which one may be damned for, if that's true then almost everyone I know is going to Hell."  
"Oh my..whatever, I don't care, but your ghost or whatever better not complain the moment someone blows out what little brains you possess. Although that having been said someone might actually shoot you and hit nothing so feel free to do as you please."

Shortly after leaving the room they were joined by several other Mando, wearing similar yet also very different suits of armor, while they made their way to a small shuttle attached to the ship. The added numbers,though it made sense given their recent endeavors, came as a profound relief to Vestara as she had hoped this would ease her workload, no that she was lazy but she wasn't yet in her peak condition with the large gash in her left palm and her leg muscles not yet accustomed to long term standing/walking.

Once everyone was situated in the, oddly spacious, shuttle and they had disembarked Vestara noticed several of her fellow occupants were staring at her, at least those who weren't yet wearing their headgear, she imagined they all still had an issue with her continued presence which she has understood was never truly outright welcome, or they did not like someone who wasn't from Mandalore wearing Mando armor regardless of whether it was borrowed or not. Either or she could feel a degree of either disdain or animosity from all and wondered greatly if any would actually come to her aid should she need it, she already had doubts about Rook who seemed to question her at every turn, and Mirta had other things to do than babysit her. She chuckled at the irony that while surrounded by so many she strangely felt quite isolated.

The ride to the planet was laconic at best, noone saying anything save for the pilot frequently informing them of how far they were from their destination, when the shuttle landed and the hatch opened venting in burning dry desert air everyone donned their helmets whilst Vestara pulled over the hood of her robe. Stepping out however Vestara saw no structures, no encampments, nothing to signify the presence of another, just sand and dunes, clearly confused she made her way to Mirta whom she was positive had an explanation.  
"Where are we? There is absolutely nothing out here."  
"Oh, but there is." Pointing towards a nearby hill "Behind that."  
Vestara proceeded to make her way to and climb the hill, riveted as to what it could be concealing. To her surprise and mutual confusion she found when she reached the top, a divot in the sand occupied by what appeared to be a large metal rectangular object that looked as though it might be a storage container. Staring for a second to see if anyone approached it on the chance their was something they needed in it Vestara pondered why they would have left this out here should that be the case, certainly if their was something of value within they would want to keep it close, after all while the desert was large, a storage container just sitting there wouldn't go unnoticed forever.  
Very soon she could hear Mirta chuckling as she walked up beside her. "Give up?"  
"Yeah, what is it?"  
"First, tell me something, in your own personal opinion do you think that container is large enough to hold a single person for a short period?"  
"I...I don't know maybe. Is there a person in it?"  
"Nope, the purpose you see is to make everyone else believe there is."  
At this point Vestara believed she was catching on to Mirta's scheme. "They're suppose to think your in it right, that container is bait for Garrys?"  
"Oh my, she does have a brain. Yep, the container I estimate is large enough that a single person wouldn't run out of air for some time, and wouldn't immediately overheat either."  
"Okay, obvious question, is there actually anything inside of it or is it essentially an elaborate hoax?"  
"Hee-hee-hee, yes there is in fact. A small mechanism we put together to start tapping on the wall of the side of the container that I can control via remote, all the while playing an audio recording of me screaming. Attached also is a transmitter set to send out a signal exclusively on the frequency Palagus told us Garrys uses. Oh and several dozen pounds of thermal explosives."  
"Oh goody, for a moment there I thought it was dangerous. So you send out a signal to get his attention, he comes to investigate and you..."  
"Blow him all the way to Corucant!"  
Vestara let out a heavy sigh while shaking her head. "Has anyone told you you need a hobby?"  
"Killing people who dick with me isn't a hobby?"  
"No, that falls in the categories of revenge,spite,and/or catharsis."  
"Okay, maybe I could use a hobby or two."

For a long while after Mirta activated the signal nothing of import occurred, the all waited silently in the desert sand for this Garrys to arrive, but noone appeared. Many among their group were becoming discouraged as to whether any of the info they received had been accurate and if all of this preparation had been for naught.  
Mirta herself was having doubt's after waiting for so long as well, the only thing that prevented her from packing everything up and heading back to commit act's of violence against the Bothan who had already caused her trouble was her traveling companion Vestara, according to whom Palagus had supplied everyone with accurate information, and whom Mirta had come to give her the benefit of the doubt.  
Various chatter could be heard over the comms, most to the effect if whether Mirta had lead them on a fool's errand, Vestara understood there existed a bit of scrutiny as far as Mirta was concerned due to her getting herself and the Mando under her command involved with the Qrepths.  
Around the time several began to suggest that they head back Vestara caught the sound of what she knew to be the revving of multiple engines. One by one each of the Mando caught it as well and the comm's became increasingly silent, and everyone prepared for whomever might appear.  
After mere moments from over a large dune of sand emerged multiple speeder's of various designs and models, each driven by individuals of various species.  
Each one parked their vehicles around the container as if forming a perimeter around it, likely taking a precaution in the event Mirta actually was inside. They then each one by one cautiously made their way towards the container each one shifting their gaze around searching for anyone who might be near.  
Vestara couldn't see well through all the sand thrown about by their speeders to tell if Garrys was among them, but Mirta through her helmet could. "Is he down there?"  
"He said he was deformed, literally stitched together with rather crude cybernetics,I don't see anyone who matches that description."  
"Maybe he just didn't show, he also said he wasn't right in the head, I assume paranoia."  
"Maybe. Luckily I took the liberty of attaching a comm to the lock on the container."

Mirta then produced a small remote with several buttons and a single dial upon it, adjusting the dial Mirta began receiving static in her helmet's comm, as she adjusted it further until she heard the sound of voices, unfortunately what they said was hard to make out as none of them were facing the comm, or directly in-front of it, also low quality comm units that one could deem expendable enough to attatch to large quantities of explosives didn't work well when sand got in them.  
"Is that thing picking up anything? Because I can hear the static from over here, and I'm not the one wearing the helmet."  
"Actually...I think one of them just said something about following a signal, that's promising...I think one of them said Kreig, can't be too sure...wait, Yes! They just said something about making sure the 'Mandalorian girl' is in the container. So now." Mirta quickly tapped one of the several buttons on the remote she held, shortly after a small rapping could be heard from the container immediately drawing the attention of all those who had gathered, urging them to draw closer. The mechanism, of which Mirta had described previously, was set on a cycle tapping at the walls of the container a number of times before ceasing and after a few short moments of silence continuing. As Mirta pressed yet another button on the remote she held the sound of a voice now emanated from the container, bidding those who had gathered to begin working on opening the lock that kept it shut.  
Vestara mused at how accurate the recording sounded as she thought that if she didn't know Mirta was sitting next to her should would be certain she actually was down there.  
The recorded voice continuously bid someone for freedom again and again, after awhile one of the men working on the lock lost his patience and shouted for the voice to be silent, but in a less than civilized manner. To this Mirta pressed another button on the remote causing the recording to change from cries for freedom to shouting profane obscenities, much to the amusement to all who were watching from a distance, this continued for awhile as well until several men began banging on the side of the container forcefully screaming for silence, to which Mirta complied shutting of the recording. Now seeing that a satisfying amount of them had gathered near the container itself Mirta pressed her finger against a large trigger on one side of the remote she held before turning to Vestara.  
"Cover your ears."  
Although she complied it ultimately did little good, as mere seconds later a nigh-blinding explosion erupted from within the metal container the Mando had set up, the shockwave of which sent Vestara flying back even with as far away as she was. Turning towards Mirta who was also flat on her back from the blast as well, and an almost deafening ringing in her ears she quickly sat up "How much explosives did you use!?"  
"YES!"  
" _I used to associate with sane people._ "

As she climbed to her feet the ringing slowly departed Vestara and the sound of multiple voices screaming caught her attention, quickly reaching the top of the hill which she had the observed recent events she saw the fiery wreckage of the container, several individuals frantically running around ablaze screaming throwing themselves against the the course sand in desperation , several more screaming in pain sprawled out upon the ground with large pieces of shrapnel from the container piercing their bodies relinquishing from them rivers of blood to stain the sand.  
They all writhed in audible pain until one of the other Mando saw fit to put them out of their misery by shooting them, what few weren't grievously injured had now calmed enough to become aware they were surrounded and were now firing into random directions they thought they themselves had seen blaster fire come from only to be shot from multiple angles themselves.  
Vestara spotted one however who wasn't firing at anybody, wasn't horrifically wounded , who just seemed to be scrambling around searching for something in the sand whilst trying to avoid exposing himself. After a few moment Vestara realized out of everyone who had originally come he was the only one still alive, and given that he seemed unharmed the most ideal to interrogate and so she started making her way towards him. The remaining individual who now Vestara could tell was a male Weequay didn't even seem to notice her as she steadily advanced towards him. She briefly pondered what it was he was searching for, something he likely misplaced when he was thrown by the explosion, until she spotted something near him in the sand, it was compact and metal though see she couldn't be sure this was truly what he sought and so she waited before trying to retrieve it herself. After a moment the Weequay's frantic search led him to the object Vastara was now watching closely, to which she felt a surge of what appeared to be joy emanate from him and he scrambled towards the object in question and greedily clenched it in his hands. Shaking the sand from it Vestara could now see from where she stood it was a comm, and he was now trying to call for help.  
" _Well we can't have that, now can we_?"  
Extending her left hand and making a clenching motion with her fingers she began to use the force to choke the man, for if he couldn't breathe he couldn't speak, thus he couldn't call for help, and with her right she reached out and using the force took the comm-piece from his hands all of which made her fell immense desperation from him.  
She continued to telekinetically apply pressure to his throat whilst she took her own blaster and fired it into the air once signalling all of the nearby Mando. Only when everyone, Mirta included, had gathered did she release her grip causing her prisoner to collapse to the ground gasping for air as Vastara herself showed Mirta what he had been after.  
Staring at the comm and over to the man whom she had incapacitated (without actually harming) she chuckled "Good job." Drawing one of her knives she slowly walked towards the breathless Weequay and held the edge against his throat and waited for a moment for his breathing to calm as he stared at her wide-eyed with terror.  
" Do you ever think about where you might be when you die? Or how the event itself might come to pass? The way I see it, it can be peaceful, or a cruel screaming nightmare beyond your darkest imagination to which you want to wake from but can't and have only cold oblivion to look forward to." The Weequay began trembling almost violently at this line of questioning which earned an almost sadistic chuckled from his aggressor.  
"Now I have a question for you, and before I ask I want you to consider two things, one out here in the middle of some forsaken desert NO ONE will hear you scream, and two your friends died fiery painful screaming deaths, with large chunks of metal piercing them several times over as well. It was unpleasant, I can be VERY unpleasant. Now you came out here hoping to find me defenseless to take back to your boss, so you're already on my bad side, hence the screaming, burning massacre all around us. Now, to my question where EXACTLY can I find Garrys?"  
"Look whoever you are, I don't know what your talking about, honest."  
Realizing that he somehow wasn't taking her seriously enough she moved her knife from his throat down to his groin area and pressed it until it broke a layer of his clothing "Somehow I don't think I got through to you. I know you work for Garrys, I heard you looking for the 'Mandalorian girl' and the signal you followed out here, was sent straight to Garrys. So if you don't know him you wouldn't be here. Now are you going to answer my question or do I need to feed you your own genitals!?"  
"Oh my- What is wrong with you!?"  
"In short I'm ornery and your wasting my time, now if I actually have to physically repeat myself, I will start carving things off regardless of whether or not you answer,if you do I'll just cut less off. Understand?"  
"Okay! Okay, the speeders!"  
"What about them?" Raising her brow to him, not that he could see.  
"The desert's on this planet are vast, its why he likes to come here. He figures noone can sneak up on him if there isn't anything obstructing the view. But because of how far it is between any of the settlements here everyone of our Speeder's are equipped with satellite navigation, and it keeps a log of where we've been."  
"So if I go and examine one of those speeders you rode in on, I'll find some little nav-unit that will give the exact location of where Garrys is?" The unnamed Weequay nodded vigorously for a moment while Mirta pondered this briefly, before finally taking her knife away from him.  
"Show me." Gesturing towards a nearby speeder that wasn't damaged i the recent explosion.  
Quickly scrambling to his feet her prisoner ran towards the vehicle in question briefly considering that he might be able to use the speeder to make a run for it, but quickly realized how surrounded he was and remembered Mirta's remark about how noone would hear him scream. The idea was quickly thrown away.  
Mirta quietly approached as he tapped several buttons atop a small display at the head of the speeders seat. Gazing from over his shoulder she lightly pressed the knife she still held against his back, to remind him of his circumstance as she had come to be cautious of others capacity for stupidity. After a short while of his browsing through the menu on the display a screen consisting of sets of numbers appeared, at a closer look it seemed to her to be a list of different coordinates along with different times next to them. The still unnamed Weequay began pointing rigorously at one particular set of numbers that seemed to repeat on the list, likely to suggest this is where they wanted to go.  
Mirta soon tapped her finger next to it in confirmation."This is where we can find him?"  
"Yes. These coordinates right here, it will be an abandoned military outpost."  
"So in others words lot's of space for him to hide and surround himself with reinforcements? And I'm guessing it was built to withstand some sort of assault?"  
"...Yes."  
"But, you've been there."Slowly realizing where this conversation was heading he gave a small nod with an audible gulp which was in turn met with an almost sinister, yet still unseen, grin from Mirta. "And I'm sure you know where it might be...vulnerable to a select group such as ours, yes?" Again he silently nodded with his suspicions,and fear, now confirmed. "So, you wouldn't mind showing us how to get in there, would you?" As she finished her inquiry she lightly pressed the knife against his back with a small degree of pressure, letting him know her insistence.  
Slightly lurching away from the knife and turning to face her directly the man had now become completely unnerved  
"Listen, you said I could go if I told you what you wanted to know..if I showed you where he was!"  
"Ohohohohoho, no good sir I didn't! I merely implied I wouldn't kill you if you told me what I wanted to know. I never made any promises of any sort. That, I am afraid, is a conclusion you prematurely drew all on your own."  
Taking a moment to slowly rethink the entire conversation he had with Mirta he realized she was telling the truth. What little color his face had left, and his heart sank as a feeling of helpless entrapment came over him. Gently placing her hand on his shoulder in one of the first non-threatening gestures she had made towards him she pulled him slightly towards her. "But I am making you a promise now, you get us in without causing a scene, and I have no reason to harm you. You'll be free to go where you please, provided wherever you go doesn't hinder me. Is this acceptable."  
The man slowly yet nervously nodded his head, not at all pleased with his situation yet understanding he held no current alternative, defying her would lead to his death, if he helped her and was discovered his current employer would likely kill him himself. It dawned on him it might be in his best interest that Mirta succeed in her scheme.  
Whilst Mirta and the other Mando collected the still functioning, and mostly undamaged, speeders for their own personal use Vestara sat and watched their now 'Benefactor' from a distance. While she could sense he at the moment harbored no violent intent, his disdain and animosity were heavily evident, yet at the same time his fear and desperation were also prominent, enough that she was certain he might not try anything. " _Still_ " She thought " _I've learned to never underestimate anothers capacity for stupidity.I think it best one keep an eye on you._ "

 **A/N Part two of an update going from 16 to 20.  
For whatever reason I imagine Mirta with a slightly scary sadistic side that we can all blame on her mother, and an insane pyromaniac side to herself that we can blame on her grandpa.**


	18. Chapter 18

From a distance Mirta observed what had been described to her as Garry's current location, an allegedly abandoned military outpost. While not large enough to house an entire army it was certainly capable of holding a decently large contingent of soldiers, leaving a large potential of hostiles within. She saw several buildings that she figured were barracks', mess halls, storage, etc. that all seemed to be intact albeit weathered, but the outer walls of the compound were riddled with holes in the structure as well as aged burns. Evidence of an intense battle, all of which made her curious as to how Garrys procured this location in the first place.  
Signalling for the Weequay,whom was currently within Garrys's employ and whose name she still didn't know nor did she care, to come over to her she began her inquiry. "So how exactly did he come to posses this compound?"  
Shrugging lightly to her question "It was abandoned, no one else was doing anything with it."  
"Ok, allow me to rephrase, WHY is it abandoned?"  
"Not sure, he said it was first built back during the Clone Wars, but that's before my time."  
"Who owned it, which side?"  
"Republic I think he said, apparently after the Separatists ceased activity in this system they didn't have any further use for the place, most places like this were abandoned after the empire was formed, this system apparently held no interest to them."  
"So he picked a place no one, not even the Galactic Empire or the Republic gives two kriffs about? So tell me, he find anything when he moved in, weapons, vehicles, broken droids?"  
He could here a tone of implication in her question, and while he wanted to make up some brazen lie to try and dissuade her proceeding any further he had noticed that for some time Vestara had been persistently eyeing him. Vestara herself was intimidating enough to him, she was clearly different than the rest of them, both in attire and the fact that she had displayed not only a capacity but a willingness to strangle him from a distance, thus he concluded to simply renege and tell the truth.  
"Y-yeah, found some weapons, decent ones to. No vehicles, and yes some busted droids. He had us try to fix them, don't know when a cadre of droids might be handy. But uh, no we couldn't fix them, they had been exposed to the elements to long, may as well have just built whole new droids."  
"So just alot of people with a lot of military grade weaponry? "  
"Yes, that's right." He chuckled nervously as he spoke trying to avoid any sort of eye contact with either Mirta or Vestara, whom wasn't convinced of his statement, as far as she could tell he was telling the truth, but he also seemed to be lying, or rather withholding something. Either or, she wasn't convinced.  
Mirta continued to examine the base noting several watchtowers near the bases far corners "You said you knew how to get in unnoticed, show me."  
"We'd have to go around, there's a portion where the tower's were brought down, so no-one would be able to see us."  
Mirta quickly grabbed his shoulder tightly "Assuming you boss isn't an imbecile he would have tightened security in the section without a vantage point, what kind of an idiot do you take me for?!"  
"He has everyone who's on watch rotate, if we go at that moment we should be able to make it."  
Mirta heard no objections from Vestara leading her to believe he actually believed this but Mirta understood sneaking in during a shift rotation wasn't pliable with an entire squadron of Mando, but she also wasn't one to take chances "Bring around a speeder!" When one of her fellow Mando brought one Mirta produced from one of her pouches a small explosive device. After pressing several buttons on the explosive she reached under the speeder and seemed to place the object in a very specific spot "An explosion near the engine will create a bigger blast and draw everyone's attention."

Taking a moment for everyone to get into an appropriate position Mirta waited, waited until she was absolutely certain no-one saw the abandoned speeder, no-one saw either of them, until she was certain nobody had a reason to suspect anything, Mirta pressed down on another one of her detonators. Almost immediately the abandoned speeder was replaced by a fiery pillar loud enough to divert the attention of all within the outpost.  
Everyone watched as the occupants gathered away from their destination, everyone so eager to discern the cause of the disruption they left their most vulnerable position unattended, giving Mirta a satisfied chuckle as she and her Mando followed the Weequay to a damaged portion of the wall. With no-one on lookout anymore they were all easily able to slip in unnoticed, but still aware that their combat gear hardly made them inconspicuous they all quickly hurried into a gap between structures.  
Relieved somewhat that the day hadn't been complicated yet, and their entrance had gone as planned Mirta had but one more task for her unwilling accomplice  
"Alright now we got in the way you said we could. Now where does Garrys stay?"  
For a long period the man remained irritatingly silent until Vestara broke it "He doesn't want to say, he thinks we won't get the drop on Garrys, we'll all die, and he'd rather not be found complicit lest he be killed to."  
Vestara was met with a gaze of bewilderment, those had been his exact thought, his exact train of logic, and she just said it out loud as though his thoughts weren't a secret to anyone. It then began to dawn on him just who she was, or rather what she was, thus he finally relented to hold no more back.  
"He's got an office he sleep's in, it's not accessible from outside, you have to go through several guarded hallways to get their and the best way to that leaves you out in the open. But I know a way to get there."  
Gesturing for everyone to follow he slowly made his way through the thin alleys between the buildings, shifting and turning between structures pausing only when they heard voices passing by, and advancing once they passed. As they continued to snake their way between buildings hidden from view Vestara got an odd sensation, something was off, looking around at their surroundings she noticed something peculiar before rushing to Mirta's side.  
"We need to find cover and stop."  
"Why?"  
"Do it!"  
Complying with her sudden demand the Mando all hid themselves while Vestara turned to face their 'guide'. "You aren't leading us to your boss."  
Taken aback by her sudden accusation he began"What?! yes I am!"  
"You were honest when you said you knew how to take us to Garrys, but you never actually said you **would**! It seems you've caught on that my capacity to tell whether or not your lying isn't perfect, but I can read some things, for example you get nervous everytime the subject of us getting near Garrys has ever come up. Your terrified of being exposed as a snitch to your boss. Your anxiety only increased as we got closer to this compound earlier, but you've started relaxing as we've made our way through here, thought that was peculiar.  
But then I noticed a moment ago these buildings you've been leading us around, they all abut the outer walls, a military base wouldn't have an office of any significance along the outer section, so you aren't leading us towards your boss. But I noticed when we passed by that last intersection smoke in the air, smoke from the speeder Mirta detonated. Your leading us towards the front gate, where EVERYONE is currently gathered!"  
The Weequay began incoherently stuttering at her accusation as Mirta stuck her head out from behind the structure they had congregated behind and looked to the sky.  
And true to Vestara's proclamation there was smoke, he was leading them to a trap. Mirta had now lost all patience with him, she had offered him a simple chance to play tour guide and then walk away, but still he persisted in his employers endeavor to try and capture her. With a quick nod of her head and a gesture towards her mouth two Mando restrained the man and covered his mouth, his attempts to scram were too muffled for anyone who wasn't nearby to hear and he wasn't strong enough to overpower his captors.  
Drawing a knife from her side Mirta clicked a trigger at the base of it's handle causing the blade to emit the slightest hum most wouldn't hear, save for Vestara who's ears were uncovered.  
"I made a point about how peaceful or painful ones end could be. Your last act of defiance has ordained the latter choice."  
Mirta quickly swung her knife in the direction of his midsection, but how effortlessly she moved her arm almost made it seem as though she didn't connect. But the immediate response of several Mando said otherwise, quickly turning their heads away whilst groaning as if something truly horrid had just occurred. But Vestara saw no immediate reaction and walked closer, she soon wished she hadn't. After a slight pause (or what simply seemed like one), a large red stain emerged from beneath his shirt as blood began to drip from a swath cut in his clothes followed quickly by his innards exiting his body, pulled by their gravity and their own weight through a large gash she now could see Mirta had cut across him.  
Vestara tried not to lurch or vomit as his internal organs simply slid out of him and landed on the sand below with soft, moist splashes of blood and sand , staining his immediate surrounding crimson. The Weequay himself was motionless, his eyes rolled back in his head and it appeared as though he had very quickly lost consciousness, a kindness likely at this point.  
Mirta quickly jerked her knife causing what traces of blood lay on it to disperse before clicking the trigger at the handle, silencing the hum.  
"If you want to get sick I won't think less of you."  
Vestara honestly didn't want to vomit in front of a crowd, but she had never witnessed something quite as...graphic...as that, after a moment of fighting with herself she managed to steele her nerves and shook her head to suggest she was fine.  
"We need to move, someone will find this and we cant possibly cover it **ALL** up." Peering out once more to see if anyone was nearby ,she looked for a possible entryway into one of the nearby buildings but all she saw immediately near them were shuttered doors that likely could only be opened electronically before spotted a doorway very close that no-one was standing post near that they might be able to take refuge in.  
The doorway however was on the opposite side of the yard they were in meaning that as they made their way to it they risked being discovered but she saw no immediate alternative.  
It bothered her that they didn't learn the location of Garrys's office, and found the idea of shooting her way through someplace whilst searching every direction for a single target infuriatingly familiar, but for now she would deal with it, they weren't in a giant space station, they weren't in space and if Garrys tried to run their were only so many ways he could leave.  
Peering out one final time to make sure it was clear Mirta ran for the vacant doorway quickly signaling everyone to follow, but she knew with their numbers they wouldn't likely get through unnoticed, as well that it likely wasn't wise for everyone to try and advance to a single point at once but also understood that the distraction they had set up wouldn't last and that at any given moment they could be discovered, she hoped however that at the very least enough would make it to be able to provide cover from a safe vantage point.  
She reached the doorway and quickly pressed the keypad opening the room, quickly peering within she simply saw a room filled with crates,but no occupants, the room was vacant.  
One by one her fellow Mando and Vestara joined her, and for a moment it seemed they might pass through undetected, though circumstance proved to not be so convenient as about halfway through their trek to the unoccupied building the distinct sound of voices shouting caught everyone's attention, immediately precipitated by the howl of blaster-fire.  
Mirta and Vestara quickly drew the firearms they each possessed and returned fire at what appeared to be over a dozen hostiles, each of various sizes and species. Her fellow Mando joined firing from the windows of the building they were in, several ran into the hallway towards their right conecting this building with the one parallel to it, and joined in firing from the windows lining it. Those who hadn't reached them took cover behind whatever they could,be it crates or whatever equipment had been left lying about, and returned fire as well.  
Bolts of plasma from various firearms flew seemingly in every direction before long, and the firefight seemed trapped in a stalemate as no side suffered any casualties, but Mirta knew likely more were coming and this stalemate wouldn't last. "Sevara, I need you to distract them."  
"...How?"  
"How much can you lift?"  
"Physically or otherwise?"  
"Otherwise."  
"I can lift as heavy as a speeder, but I honestly don't know my full threshold. Why?"  
"There" Pointing at what appeared to be a forklift, noticeably larger than a speeder "Can you lift that, and throw it?"  
Seeing the size of the object Vestara furrowed her brow "Exactly what part of throwing that maintains the element of surprise as far as I'm concerned?"  
"Oh for the love of..." Mirta quickly grabbed her comm and turned it on "Someone, anyone! I need something that goes BOOM on that lift right there. "  
Between the hail of gunfire one of the other Mando quickly duck under and placed one of their own detonators within the lift before return to a position well away from the lift itself. "There now if it blows up and kills everyone you throw it at, no-one will able to report it magically flew through the air at them, happy?"  
"...Exactly how many bombs do all of you have? You never seem to run out."  
"We have enough, that's all you need to know."  
"Fine." With a heavy sigh Vestara tried to grab the lift through the force, while she was well adept at moving object's telekinectically the need had not always arisen to move something so large and while she knew she could she was sightly out of practice. Eventually the object of her focus reneged and the forklift slowly elevated from the ground, once she was sure she was sure she had a firm grip on it she turned to Mirta  
"What makes you so sure this thing will explode even with a bomb attached?"  
"Trust me."  
"I don't, I cringe at your machinations." Regardless Vestara proceeded to launch the vehicle towards the source of the blaster-fire, what came as some amusement is that before the forklift even hit it's mark it already yielded result's. The sight of such a heavy object soaring through the air immediately caught the attention of the mercenaries they were engaged with causing about half to panic and try to find cover, whilst the remaining sat perfectly still, utterly flabbergasted at a sight they couldn't comprehend or reason.  
More than that however was the immediate desist in enemy fire, giving the Mando plenty of opportunity to open fire on them. One by one they dropped amidst a hail of gunfire while a several ton object flew at them, launched by an unseen force.  
When the forklift finally landed ,there were few left in it's direct path though not all were safe it it barrelled through, broken pieces of metal shrapnel flying in every direction as the lift slammed repeatedly against the ground and any nearby walls by it's own rolling momentum before finally halting not to far from where it originally landed.  
While only slightly amused by the whole event Vestara was disappointed that the lift did not, as Mirta claimed it would, explode. She turned to face her but was stopped by her holding up her hand  
"Wait for it."  
After a moment she noticed spark's emerging from the vehicle followed shortly by a manifestation of a small flame, likely the result of leaking oil or fuel beginning to ignite before eventually traveling to the previously placed explosive thus, as promised, the lift did indeed explode engulfing everyone nearby in a wave fire.  
"There we go, satisfied?"  
After a brief moment of observing once again Mirta's actions had resulted in something blowing up and multiple individuals being lit aflame in the process while running and screaming, she felt as though there were a trend.  
"How often are screaming, charred corpses going to be a common sight in our daily ventures?"  
Mirta slowly removed her helmet revealing an almost maniacal grin "There's an old saying, payback's a bitch, and so am I. "  
Their small victory however was alas short lived as while the first group of Garrys's mercenaries they had engaged was now neutralized, the explosion had drawn the attention of others, and now Garry wherever he may be was surely aware something was awry.  
The sound of voices clamoring towards their location grew gradually louder, while they all assumed the fighting wasn't done and that soon some form of reinforcements would arrive, the explosion only acerbated the situation giving haste to their intended assailants.  
Within mere moments more mercenaries, all heavily armed, appeared from the opposite end of the yard though they were all quite surprised to be met with a squadron of equally armed Mando awaiting them.  
One by one as they came into view the Mandalorian's opened fire upon them immediately felling quite a few within the first few moments before the rest caught on and took cover.  
For a short moment it appeared to all the Mandalorians had the advantage, they continued to lay down suppressing fire and suffered no complications. It wasn't until Vestara heard heavy footsteps coming towards them that they realized Garry's men had access to an alternative entrance to the building they were in.  
Down a mid-length to their left hallway she saw a group of men of differing races and armaments advancing towards them, she quickly pressed on a nearby keypad on the wall but nothing happeneded, upon second glance she realized it wasn't operational, thus the hallway couldn't be sealed off and on top of that Mirta's usual answer of resorting to explosives was no longer viable as they had no means of shielding themselves from the blast.  
"Mirta, the doors broken." While she glanced over to see what she was talking about Vestara immediately took to work pull on of the large crates the filled the room over in front of the doorway, before continuing however she quickly unlatched on and peeked inside ever so slightly to ensure it wasn't full of explosives but to her relief she simply saw what appeared to be rifles of some sort.  
Vestara's left hand was still hurt from the recent events aboard the station, so rather that use her palm she used the back of her clenched fist to balance the blaster Mirta had given her so she could aim, fortunately for her her advancing attackers had confined themselves into a narrow hallway with nothing to hide behind, no doors to run through to evade fire.  
Taking advantage of these circumstances Vestara opened fire on each of them, while they of course returned fire she had a large metal crate capable of withstanding anything their firearms produced to duck behind, on top of that their aim wasn't the best while Vestara had been taught years ago how to steady her focus through the force improving her proficiency with firearms.  
Very soon the numbers in the hallway and in the yard outside the building itself had whittled down and Vestara allowed herself to feel some semblance of relief, of ease. But as often was the case fortune had a habit of shifting at a moment's notice, as whilst still occupied with her firefight her body jerked heavily as something struck her shoulder, the pauldron attached to her armor was dense enough that she felt no pain but she still shifted from the impact and and fell towards a nearby wall.  
It didn't take long to realize someone had shot her.  
"Okay, who the Kriff gets to die next?!"  
Looking up she realized she'd been shot from one of the windows lining the back wall of the room they were in, meaning more of the mercenaries had gone around the building itself and were trying to flank them.  
"Oh son of a Gungan Senator!"  
Mirta and the other Mando in the room had already taken notice and began a counterattack against the new enemy, but with Vestara no longer besieging the mercenaries in the hallway one of them, a rambunctious Shistavanen to be exact, ran forward intent on slaying Vestara once and for all.  
As the large lupine-like being ran for her Vestara, who was pulling herself back to her feet, opened fire with her blaster but this particular individual was wearing body armor and held his arms in front of his face so as to prevent any head-shots.  
Vestara realized all too late she was going to have to use the force on this particular opponent, but now he was in mid-lunge and she had no time to prepare herself! Quickly she reached for her lightsaber but as she drew it the Shistavanen collided with her resulting in her dropping it as she hit the ground, with him on top of her.  
Large clawed fingers pinned her down to the ground while a mouth of jagged teeth bared down at her. After some struggle before he could harm her, she managed to free her arms using her left she grabbed his right shoulder and began to push away keeping some distance between her and his snarling fangs, while with her right hand she tried to reach her lightsaber but unfortunately she couldn't find it and the crystal within it didn't have her force energy within it so she couldn't sense it and thus found her self frantically patting the floor in search of it.  
Again and again her attacker snarls and lashed at her with his teeth, coming close enough for Vestara to feel the heat of his breath but her firm grip on his shoulder held him just outside of reach to keep her from harm, but no less frightened.  
As she became more and more desperate she remembered the vibro-blade Mirta gave her, acting fast she used the force to will it into her hand and quickly activated it and lunged with it. At first her attacker tried to stop it with his hand, but she positioned it just right to collide with his palm, and true to Mirta's claim, the blade slid right through his flesh impaling his hand completely.  
The Shistavanen howled in pain and reeled back at his new injury while Vestara quickly withdrew the blade and made quick work of the opening she made to stab at his torso.  
Multiple times the blade easily slid through the body armor as though he weren't wearing any, piercing his flesh again and again, Vestara did not stop until finally her aggressor collapsed dead atop of her, his eyes still very much open and mere inches from her own.  
She stared into the motionless gaze of her seemingly lifeless attacker until she was positive beyond all doubt he was dead, before finally shoving his heavy corpse from atop her.  
Exhausted physically she decided to lay still for a moment so as to try and regain her stamina, admittedly perhaps not the safest option but at the moment she couldn't bring herself to care.

 **A/N Part Three of my big updates starting with 16.  
Mirta eviscerates somebody and Vestara almost gets mauled by a wolf-man. BTW when I looked up just what that Wolf guy from 'A New Hope' is called I nearly lost it, that freaking word!  
This chapter took me forever because I tried to nit-pick at it and get the narration perfect but ultimately was never satisfied so I just went 'FUCK IT!' Narration is my weak point in all this, I may fix it at a later date but for now I'm getting it up to be done with it.**


	19. Chapter 19

Vestara sat on the ground taking a moment to catch her breath and compose herself. As she waited she took a moment to locate her lightsaber and held it at the ready in the event someone did try to do her harm.  
All the while she slowly listened to the sound of blaster-fire gradually dying down as the firefight seemed to reach it's conclusion, concluding of course the Mando were the victors as from what she had seen of their performance so far they were beyond what simple mercenaries could handle. Before too long the sound of silence permeated as no more violence or conflict could be heard, figuring she's lay there on the ground long enough she finally decided to pull herself to her feet.  
"Are you alright?"  
Vestara looked to see Mirta staring at her somewhat blankly to her confusion until she looked down only to realize she was soaked with the blood of the Shistavanen she'd just slain. No doubt the excess amount was owed to the almost extreme number of times she stabbed him before he collapsed on top of her, she now realized she looked like **she** had been stabbed an excess amount.  
"It's not mine." She reassured her while lightly gesturing towards the nearby corpse which had now bled quite profusely onto the floor.  
Mirta let out a small relieved chuckle before gathering the surrounding Mando.  
"They all seemed to have stopped coming, anyone else curious as to why? Be too wishful thinking that in a outpost this size they didn't house more people here."  
One of the other Mando whom Vestara wasn't acquainted with stepped forward to speak "Chances are our target has accrued any remaining manpower to his side. This base should have a landing pad with at least one ship docked, that would be a viable place he could be."  
Mirta nodded in acknowledgement"Yes, but assuming any info we got on this outpost before is accurate, the commanding officer's office can double as a bunker, likely intentional given this place was built during a war. It might be prudent if we divide ourselves: One group searches the offices, another finds whatever transports are docked here and keep them from leaving."  
While Mirta continued going over their current battle plan curiosity began to get the better of Vestara as she walked back over to the large trunk she used for cover. She already figured whatever Mirta's plan was Mirta was going to keep Vestara with her be it out of any amount of protectiveness she might feel for her, or because of her natural distrust of Sith she knew Mirta didn't like Vestara being where she couldn't watch her.  
She reopened the metal crate and pulled out one of the rifles she saw inside and looked it over, it had a fairly basic design long barrel, a scope, a secondary handle near the middle, a stock on the back for recoil. Curious as to how useful an armament it might be she turned towards everyone else and held up the rifle.  
"HEY! What do you figure this does?"  
As everyone turned towards her to see what she was referring to, everyone suddenly went silent. Mirta removed her helmet and stared wide-eyed at her. Vestara could feel through the force a wave of fear emanating from every direction. After a brief and awkward silence everyone in the room took a step away from Vestara, filling her with ominous dread.  
"What...what am I holding?"  
Mirta held her hands out in a cautious manner. "Please be very careful with that!"  
"What am I HOLDING?!"  
Mirta slowly began stepping towards her "Does the term T7-Ion Disrupter mean anything to you?"  
"No, is that what this is?"  
"Yes, yes it is. Now Ion-Disruptors were banned by the galactic empire back before any present here were born. So to put thing's in perspective they were banned back when a homicidal Sith-Lord ran the Galaxy."  
Vestara looked down to see she had instinctively placed her finger around the trigger when she picked up the rifle as well as a small hum from the rifle itself which seemed to indicate it had somehow become armed, likely the cause of everyone's sudden caution.

"Word is they were developed as an advanced mean's of fighting Separatist forces. The rifle fires a concentrated bolt of plasma that shorts out any electronic devices they hit, resulting in a cascade power failure that shorts out all circuitry. With a single shot they can bring down Droids, Tanks, Speeders, Automated defenses, or entire Airships. The intent was to be able to safely destroy any electronics."  
"So why are you nervous?"  
"An unintended effect was when they hit organic being's they disintegrate atom by atom, VERY slowly, if you get shot you literally fade out of existence VERY painfully!"  
" _And my fingers on the trigger in a room_ _ **FULL**_ _of people I don't want to kill._ "  
Mirta very gently proceed to unravel Vestara's finger from the trigger and and removed the disruptor from her hands and quickly deactivated it, causing much of the anxiety to subside from the room. Mirta and Vestara both looked back at the crate she'd originally produced it from to find multiple rifle's of the same variety.  
"Some idiot actually left a crate of literal death-ray's unlocked and out in the open?! Well on the plus side this speaks volume's as to the mental capacity of whom we're dealing with. Someone take care of the rest of them before searching for whatever transport might be docked on base while the rest of us search for the C.O.'s office." Mirta quickly glanced at the disruptor in her hand "I'll hold onto this."

As Mirta and Vestara made their way through the corridors of the base they found them to be eerily quiet and unoccupied which was itself unsettling, there had moment's earlier been a large battle that couldn't have simply been overlooked, there was no sign anyone had left the base itself yet no one appeared. As an act of caution they checked the rooms they rooms they passed to find them empty and barren adding to the confusion. Mirta didn't need to be told this bore the signs of a trap but proceeded anyway, ultimately she decided to address Vestara to placate her caution through inquiry. "Out of curiosity how did that thing get on top of you, why'd you wait so long to use your saber?"  
"You told me to wait, remember?"  
"Since when do you listen to other people?"  
"I don't. But, at the moment I'm living under your proverbial roof. I suffer no illusion's as to what this relation is built on, your exploiting my abilities to make things easier on you. The Sith would do the same to gain an edge against the Jedi, BUT between the two of you I actually know you, and you've actually come to my defense. You both seek to use me but I'd rather stick with the Devil I know."  
Mirta rose an eyebrow to this remark. "I'm the devil now?"  
"To that man you eviscerated you are."  
"Fair enough."  
"And at the same time your graciously allowing me time to get my own affairs in order so I'd rather keep on your good side." Vestara quickly did a mock courtsy whilst giving a playful grin, earning her a hearty laugh from Mirta. "So while I no longer follow others blindly anymore, I suppose I can oblige a few arbitrary request's to keep you content and my organs where they belong." Earning another light hearted chuckle.  
"HEY!"  
Both quickly turned to see Rook at the end of the hall standing in front of a set of large double doors with what appeared to be some sort of oversized locking mechanism at the center of the two door and Rook tapping a sign next to said doors. "This should be the room we're looking for."  
Mirta quickly looked the lock up and down, it appeared to be very thickly bolted into both doors with a small gap in the center where it could part. She spotted numerous entry point's where one would insert a key of sorts, as well as an electronic key pad.  
"Anyone here able to get this thing open?"  
Vestara rose her hand slghtly to her query ."Hate to state the obvious but, why don't I just cut it open, or why don't we blow it open with the absurd and nigh-endless amounts of explosives you all carry?"  
"Because it could be rigged, I'd prefer it if someone tried to safely unlock it first. Besides cutting could alert anyone inside. As for explosives the door itself could be reinforced so lets hold off."  
As one of the Mando present took to trying to pick the lock everyone else began readying their weapons for whomever might be inside, but Vestara herself found herself distracted by a faint noise. At first she jumped to the conclusion it was Ship again but soon realized she could actually hear this sound, it was real. Upon realizing it was an actual audible noise she lost interest until a sensation of dread crept up her as if she was being alerted of danger leading her to conclude it had to be relevant. Turning her head in each direction to find the cause and pin down what it was she caught the attention of Mirta and Rook who both walked over to her but she paid them no mind as she continued to search for what she now thought was a ever so faint beeping not breaking her stride until Rook waved his hand in front of her face.  
"Any particular reason your turning around in every direction like a Nexu chasing it's tail?"  
"I'm trying to find that noise."  
"What noise?"  
"That..that beeping I think."  
Rook and Mirta exchanged confused glances before turning back to her "What beeping?"  
"You don't hear that?" Both shook their heads to which Vestara imagined them both looking at her as though she were insane from beneath their helmets. "I'm not imagining it, there's a noise and it's important I find it." Both shook their heads in confusion as she continued to turn her head in hopes her ears would catch the source. Gradually though the noise did grow apparently, however not enough for the Mando to hear it still which only irritated Vestara as she now was feeling crazy chasing some phantom noise that originated from seemingly nowhere whilst everyone else present prepared for an inevitable fight.  
And yet, the feeling of dread still permeated upon her, and as the moments passed the feeling only grew worse until the silence was broke by the Mando working on the door "Anyone else hear a beep?"  
Then she noticed the faint beeping had grown louder and hastened followed by a chill that she could only describe as someone 'walking on her grave' washed over her when she suddenly realized what she was hearing and why she could only hear it.  
"WE NEEDS TO GET AWAY FROM THE DOOR, NOW!"  
The collective Mando halted what they each were doing and stared at her somewhat blankly, but while Mirta saw no-one else perceived a threat to prompt such behavior she had herself come to trust Vestara and realized that there just might be a chance of danger  
"Do as she says everyone away from the door." Shortly after she gave this order the slow faint beeping suddenly turned loud and rapid. "Oh Kriff, RUN!"  
Mirta's sudden panic led everyone to hasten their retreat down the hall, but ultimately it wasn't fast enough as before everyone was able to completely clear that section of the corridor the entire set of double doors ignited in a massive fiery explosion, the impact of which threw almost everyone forward onto the ground.  
As Mirta herself struggled to regain her senses after striking her head on the ground she couldn't help but admire the irony, this was almost like what she had done to Garrys's earlier. Whatever humor she could derive was shortly cut off when she realized someone was crouched down next to her, when she tried to see who it might be she simply found herself staring down the barrel of a gun which told her all she needed to about who was standing next to her.  
Not too long after she felt a pair of hand's grab each of her arm's and violently pull her to her feet while the third individual, who still had a gun on her, reached over and very roughly pulled her helmet from her head. She could see behind her captors that almost everyone of her companions had been incapacitated in the same manner as her. Though a small number of the Mando that had joined them weren't anywhere to be seen, suggesting they perhaps avoided the blast, which was hopeful.  
Her head still in a haze she tried to re-think the entire event, the hall they were in had no intersections it was long and straight so the explosion bottle-necked straight down it covering more ground than it probably should, she could see everyone's armor were lightly singed on the outside, but it didn't appear anyone was actually killed, after all their armors were insulated and made to protect them from sub-arctic temperatures to the heat of a volcano.  
That is except Vestara , whom she saw being drug away with the robe she had worn aflame and tossed aside, the armor Mirta had loaned Vestara was one of her earliest sets, it wasn't fully insulated and didn't cover everything, and on top of that Vestara didn't even bring the helmet!  
Suddenly Mirta realized something that she knew Vestara would never let her hear the end of, and to this she gave herself a small chuckle.

Mirta's captors drug her Vestara and five of the original eight Mando that had accompanied them through the singed and warped remnants of the doors leading into the bases C.O.'s office which strangely enough, barring some mild burning along the door frame and the immediate section of the floor coming in, was mostly undamaged.  
Everyone was them spread around the room a small distance from one another each guarded by three mercenaries, Vestara was at the opposite and of the room from Mirta, who was trying to figure out if she was even still alive until Vestara herself rose her head ever so slightly and after ascrtaining where Mirta was and making eye contact she slightly winked before dropping her head again.  
At the back end of the room standing in front of a desk was a tall figure with their backs turned towards everyone, Mirta immediately assumed this was the person they had come for ,Garrys Kreig, the figure wore a long duster coat and what appeared to be a wide-brimmed hat.  
" _Great Iv'e been captured by a space cowboy._ "  
For a moment their wasn't anything said or done they just waited until finally the tall figure broke the silence, and everyone wishes he hadn't.  
"WhiCH oNe oF YoU IS MIRTA GEV?"  
The mans voice sounded partly mechanical, but full of static and the volume fluctuated, suggesting whatever implant he used to help him speak wasn't functioning properly, while the other half of his voice sounded like a drawn out death rattle. No one responded to the mans question ,likely because his voice was so unpleasant to all, and growing tired of the permeating silence the figure finally repeated his question.  
"I SaID WhicH oF YoU Is MirTa GEV?!" all the while turning to show himself, and Mirta then understood what Ord Palagus meant when he described Garrys Kreig as a nightmare to look at.  
His left eye had been replaced with a very crude prosthetic that was not at all designed to resemble a human eye, while the right side of his jaw had been replaced as well but it wasn't proportional to the left side causing his entire jaw to appear dislocated, he also didn't appear to have a nose at all, and a small rather filthy looking tube seemed to enter into his neck and stretch down under his shirt, suggesting her probably couldn't eat by himself. His left hand was mechanical as well with finger's of disproportionate lengths, his right hand was covered with a glove so no-one could determine it's status. His posture suggested his hips and waist weren't properly aligned and every step he took two distinct metal thud's could be heard which gave the impression both legs her mechanical as well, But what everyone present found most repulsive about him was the area's that his skin and his prosthetic's met was discolored appearing almost rotten and seemed to be secreting puss.  
And while Mirta herself was no stranger to grisly sight's THIS made her want to vomit.

Grarrys began to pace around the room looking at each of the Mando's faces while deafening the silence with his loud footsteps.  
"I kNow FeTT's OnlY PRoGiNY iS hIs GrANdDauGHteR, SO tO aLl ThE mEn IN tHIs ROom, unDERsTand I HAve nO use FOr you. I cAN KIll ALL tHe mALEs HERe to DEATH anD sTill gEt mY pRiZe."  
" _Oh dear lord he does use that term!_ "  
When no one answered still he rose his right hand and gestured for something to be handed to him before on of his men passed him the Ion Disruptor Mirta had brought.  
"yOu've bEen STicKING youR FInGErs WheRe they dOn'T BeLONg, THIS Is MY toY."  
He began pointing the gun back and fourth between each of the male Mando, and while Mirta had no intention of going along with whatever sick game he had planned she wasn't about to force hoer own men to suffer such a slow and painful death.  
"I'm Mirta Gev." Garry's hurried over to her and crouched down to eye level, the smell of rotten flesh coming off him made her want to vomit even more.  
"IM SUrpriSed FETt coUld haVE SOmEone So pRETty bE rElated tO HIm."  
"Now that you have me, explain why you're after me."  
"I asSumED tHAT SPInElesS MUT PalaGUs wOUld hAvE tolD yOU wHEN He sOlD Me OuT."  
"He said you got into a fight with my Grandfather and lost, I fail to see how that affects me."  
"YOu dOn'T THinK YoU hOld aNY Of THe reSponSIbILiTY FOr His ActioNS?"  
"No! No I don't. When did you two meet? 10 years ago, I wasn't even done with puberty, 20 years I couldn't speak properly yet, 30 years my parants hadn't met! So no! None of this is my problem."  
"ANd yEt yoU cAmE heRE of yoUr oWn vOLiTION."  
"YOU stuck your nose, or what's left of it, in MY business." Garrys didn't take well to the jab at his disfigurements and slapped her across the face with the back of his mechanical hand hard enough to cause her lip to bleed. "Touchy aren't me. But as I was saying YOU forced my hand, YOU made me come here, so no I'm not here of my own volition."  
Garrys let out a small chuckle that was murder on her ears "I SuppoSE I diD, aND I supPoSE IN ThE graND schemE oF ThIngS tHIS doEsN't InvoLve You, mY gRIpe wItH FeTT MaY vERy WeLl Pre-DatE yOu. BUT YoU sEe I'M DyInG aS yOu coUld prObabLy teLl so I cAN't Beat FEtt iN a FighT, noT Like tHis. So If I cAn't bReaK hIs bODY" He then gave what passed for a grin "I'Ll bREaK hIs SPirit, bY bREAking YOUR bOdy. EVEnTuaLlY hE'll ComE fOr You, AnD HE WOn't lIke wHaT hE FiNd's, BUt I'LL mAke surE yoUr STill alIvE tO bARter witH, hIM fOr You, anD tHen I'll HaVe gOTTen My VEnGeaNCe."  
"And what if I'd been killed by your bomb a second ago, what then?" Garrys paused for a moment as if rethinking that whole scenario "WOW! Palagus was right you are crazy. You actually risked killing the person you want as a hostage just to whittle down my forces, your as stupid as you are ugly!" Garrys began to grow even more frustrated with her and reeled his hand back to slap her again "But you forgot two things."  
He paused once again and stared somewhat blankly at her "ANd WhAt hAVE I FOGoTTen?"  
"First I brought alot more than 6 people with me, and second you forgot her." Quickly gesturing towards Vestara who quickly opened her eyes and thrust her hands to the side releasing a Force Repulse much larger than what she had performed on Palagus's station, the force of the shockwaves release ripped her three captors to pieces while everyone else in the room was thrown about.  
Whilst everyone tried to gain their bearing a nearby window shattered as sniper fire from the three Mando who escaped the explosion unharmed began to assail Garry's men in the room.  
Garrys himself ran for the nearby door to get out of the sniper's fire but Mirta was determined to now let him go after finally finding him and took chase. When she caught him in the hallway she attempted to tackle him to the ground but found him unusually well grounded reaching behind with his cybernetic arm he gripped part of her armor and seemingly without effort lifted Mirta's entire body off of the ground and threw her into a nearby wall  
"I sAId I WaS dYinG, nOT dEAd YET."  
" _OH Kriff he's stronger than he looks._ "  
Garrys stomped over to her and grabbed one of Mirta's legs and threw her into the wall opposite to them."My bODy MAy bE brOkEn bUt I CAn stiLl fiGhT!"  
"So can I asshole!" Though slightly dazed and in pain she quickly leaped to her feet and began ducking his punches and parried with her own. Though he possessed slightly above average strength from his cybernetics his movements were sluggish and easy for her to read but unfortunately for her everywhere she struck him she felt hit something solid.  
" _How much of him is made of metal?_ " Every blow she delivered seemed almost completely ineffective as it felt as through she were striking a wall.  
"MaYBE if yOu wEre ARMeD YOU miGHt havE a CHaNCE, But WhaT's LEFt oF Me, I've HAD rEiNfOrcEd!"  
Before she could retort she saw someone running towards Garrys as fast as they could before jumping up and trying to kick him in the side with both feet only for him to once again not move at all and the Mando, who she was now certain was Rook, fell on his back.  
He tried to turn and grab Rook of the ground as he had previously done to Mirta, but Rook quickly delivered a swift kick to his groin area only to receive a solid metal thud, his leg to buckle and Rook himself to grimace in pain.  
"Oh my- Fett cut off that too?! THERE IS A LINE PEOPLE!"  
" _Go Grandpa!_ " Mirta took advantage of his distraction and struck Garrys in the face, which was still a weak point on his body and so he staggered under the blow giving Rook time to draw two knives and try to stab him, literally, in the back. However Garrys's claim of reinforcing the prosthetic's in his body kept proving true as both blades broke against him.  
Rook drew several more and repeated his attempt several times over each time he failed to find a vulnerable area in his body and the knives continued to buckle and break upon him.  
" _What was the point of finding him is we can't kill him?_ "  
The two continued to try and bring him down but ultimately they knew he could wear them down, his body may be crudely stitched together but in the inside it's solid.  
"Just give up, you mercenaries are dead or dying, and there's more of us watching your ship, you won't live through this day."  
"ALL i NEeD IS you, tHEN the reST wIlL suRReNDEr! No-onE WIlL risk hurTINg Fett'S grANDdaugHTer."  
"But you keep forgetting something."  
"WhAT!?"  
Pointing behind him "Her!" Garrys turned around in time to make eye contact with Vestara Khai as she leapt forward and rammed the Vibro-blade Mirta had loaned her into his chest. All present were pleased that they actually harmed him while Garry's stood in shock as blood rose from his wound.

 **A/N Part 4 of my quintuple update!  
And we finally meet the shit piece they are looking for in this part of the story, my goal was to give him a description that was utterly repulsive, and his voice goes back and forth from loud to quiet so imagine how annoying actually talking to him would be!**


	20. Chapter 20

Garrys Kreig continued to stare at the knife protruding from his chest in disbelief. For a moment Vestara was quite pleased with herself at injuring him given that Rook and Mirta were having so much trouble doing so. But then Garrys let out a roar of anger before striking her across the face with a closed metal fist, he may have been hurt but he could still fight.  
"Oh my god just DIE!" Rook reached around to try and Suplex Garrys but unfortunately discovered him to be too heavy for him to lift. "This...usually works."  
"Chess Piece, your officially an idiot!" Garrys reached around and grabbed Rook as he had Mirta and threw him into a nearby wall before turning back towards Vestara, the current target of his ire. But to his surprise she drew and ignited her lightsaber.  
"WeLL That ANsWErs WHO YOU ARe." Vestara quickly swung her blade forwards but Garrys blocked her strike with his left forearm, which stopped the blade completely. "CLeVEr, But NoT eNOugH."  
Vestara continued to apply pressure and soon the blade began to press through his arm severing it completely. "WHaT?!" But before any retort could be made she turned her saber downward and plunged it through his left leg causing him to fall to his knees before finally she drew her blaster but rather than shoot him she struck him hard in the forehead with the butt of it dazing him.  
Rook who was rubbing him bruised and bleeding head walked over and kicked him hard in the face.  
"Why didn't you just outright kill him?"  
"Because" Turning to see Mirta walk over with the Disruptor she had just gone to recollect "This is her kill, not mine."  
Garrys finally regained his senses in time to find himself staring down the barrel of the Disruptor Mirta was holding. "If you've got anymore men on this base their hiding because the only ones I see are dead.  
You know, before my visit to Palagus's station, I'd never heard of you. My Grandfather never spoke of you because he probably forgot about you. And soon I and everyone else in the universe will forget you. After all who would remember a man that doesn't exist."  
Garrys began to let out a shout of protest but was silence by Mirta firing the blaster. Mirta was curious how it would react given that most of his body was already mechanical, at first spark's and smoke emanated from his body as his various cybernetics ceased to function and died, when after a moment his body began to crumple forward as bit by bit his flesh began to dissolve atom by atom giving of a small blue luminosity from the disruptors plasma, until eventually there was nothing left, just a pile of smoking, crackling machinery.  
Vestara stared wide eyed for a moment in awe of what just happened "Huh. I does disintegrate people."  
As the remaining Mando gathered around Mirta held the Disruptor above her head "I'm keeping this, anyone got a problem too bad." No-one said anything. "Alright well with him dead our problem is solved, now we can get back to more important business, like going home. Everyone gather your belongings and someone radio the Kandosii, tell them where to pick us up, while your at it let the other team know they can stop guarding Garrys's ship he's not gonna be using it anymore."

As everyone took to there assigned tasks Vestara, whose legs had begun to bother her again limped over to Mirta "May I ask something?"  
"Didn't you just?"  
Vestara smirked at her sarcastic reply but still continued with her question "This won't be the only person who comes looking for revenge against your grandfather. And I doubt you have made friends with everyone you've met."  
"My grandfather has been a bounty hunter longer than Luke Skywalker himself has drawn breath, of course he's made enemies and yes I anticipate we will meet several of them. My Grandmother chased bounties to support my mother, this eventually resulted in someone tracking her down and freezing her in carbonite for almost Fifty years. And then there was my Mother who did quite a few nasty things while posing as her Father. Garrys wasn't the only person looking for revenge, he won't be the last. But he was the problem right in front of us."  
"And how long do you think everyone will put up with these distractions?"  
Mirta gave Vestara a fierce glare for a brief moment "And whats that supposed to mean?!"  
"I hear things. Like I've heard things aren't so good back home with the people's leader blocked from stepping foot on it. And I heard you yourself are under scrutiny for getting everyone mixed up with the Qrepths. How many distractions will they put up with? How long will they follow you and Fett when you have a list bigger than a Sarlac of people with vendetta's against you?"  
"Is there a point t to this or do you enjoy prodding at my personal misfortunes?!"  
"My point is something has to give sooner or later or people will get testy, are you prepared for than potential scenario?"  
"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, till then you worry about yourself, your good at that."  
"But that's what I'm doing."  
"Beg pardon."  
"Mirta for the time being I'm stuck with you, and as of late your problems have been MY problems. And let's not forget it was a Sith who cast you all from your homeworld. In the event of a horrid mutiny where do you figure my life sits on their priorities, especially since Chess Piece questions you at every turn over whether to keep me aboard. Oh and speaking of idiot's."  
As Vestara departed Rook came up to address Mirta. "Pleasant chat?"  
"So-so. She brought up something for me ponder."  
"Ok. One thing about all this still bothers me."  
"Only one?"  
"Actually Two. First whose idea was it for her to try that one trick again?"  
"Mine, I spoke to her after we left Palagus's station and told her to only use it if we were ever captured again, but to make sure any allies weren't next to her."  
"OK, another thing I get that he set a trap, by then he had to know we were coming for him. I even get that by placing in the one end of the door he made the explosion bottleneck at us with little of the explosion reaching him."  
"The fact that there was a bomb to begin with justifies my not having her cut through the doors, he could have just set it off prematurely, and the fact that they were reinforced say it was the right call not to waste our own explosives on it."  
"Yeah, but what I don't get it how she knew about the bomb?"  
To this Mirta began laughing quite loudly before tapping the side of her helmet "Our helmets muffle certain noises, the insulation to protect us from weather and any airborne toxins dampen certain light noises. She could hear it before us because she refused to wear the helmet because she thought it looked stupid."  
Rook stared rather blankly and perplexed for a moment before slapping his face with his palm. "So we were saved by Vanity?"  
Mirta now began laughing louder "YES!"  
"I swear you can't make this crap up."

As everyone gathered near the front gate of the bases watching as the Mando ship 'The Kandosii' set down nearby, Vestara took one last look at the base before turning towards Mirta. "So what are we going to do with all the equipment here?"  
"I don't see that it's our concern."  
"There's plenty of weapons in this base, might be useful."  
"Yes but the ship has limited space and is serving as the permanent residence of more people than it should, as useful as everything here is it's too cumbersome to take with us. But we've taken measures to ensure the equipment won't become a problem."  
"What measures?"  
As the hatch for the Kandosii opened to let everyone on board Mirta motioned for Vestara to follow her. The two quickly got on and made their way to the Ships bridge where the two could see the Base as the Ship made it's departure. "Technically speaking this is also the same method for ensuring none of Garrys's men come looking for payback on account of I disintegrated their meal ticket."  
"I suppose it's not a harsh talking to?" A short moment later there was a bright flash of light that slowly died down to revealing a massive explosion engulfing almost the entirety of the base. "I suppose orbital bombing works as well, but how'd you cover the entire base?"  
"We rigged Garrys's ship to explode as well, helped cover more ground."  
"Ah, well unless I'm needed for something else, I will adjourn." With a small nod Mirta dismissed her and she left for their shared quarters not stopping for anything along the way.

Exhausted from the entirety of the days events Vestara simply removed the top portion of her body armor, which was covered in blood though not her own,as well as her robe, which was badly singed from the explosion earlier, before simply laying down in her bed.  
As she lay silently trying to get some form of rest she noticed a peculiar, and quite familiar, sensation in her head. Something she knew rattling around in her mind if it were, it only took a few moments to realize what it was but as tired as she was she simply didn't have time to impede what she knew was coming.  
" _Lady Khai._ " Ship was trying to talk to her again. At first she thought of trying to push him out of her head again but decided against it, he had already made contact so she reneged and decided to see it through.  
" _WHAT do you want Ship_?"  
" _You have been resisting my attempt to communicate_."  
" _That's because I didn't want to talk_!"  
" _Your behaviour as of late has been unusual, why do you resist my conversing with me? Why are you prolonging your reunion with the Sith? What is it that has you so consumed that you resist your own objective_?"  
In reality her rejoining the Sith was Ship's idea, she had abandoned the Sith order entirely so in truth it was not **HER** goal but rather **HIS**. " _My current venture is not a short one, it's something I_ _ **HAVE**_ _to take care of. Can you not be a little patient_?"  
" _One does not demand patience from the Sith! What is this endeavor that distracts you so?_ "  
" _Mirta Gev, the Mando who helped me escape from the Monolith, she need's my aid in...'correcting a mistake'. A mistake one of your previous employer's wrought on her_."  
For a moment she received no reply, almost as if he was contemplating her statement before finally answering. " _You refer to the Nano-Killer Darth Caedus released into Mandalore's atmosphere_?"  
" _Yes._ "  
" _I fail to comprehend how this is in anyway relevant or necessary moving forward. Why is it so important that you undo the action of one of your predecessors_?"  
" _All Mirta wants is to go home, Caedus stole that from her. Mirta personally saw to it that I received appropriate medical treatment for my injuries,without proper treatment I could have lost my legs she saw to it that didn't happen but at her_ _ **own**_ _financial expense_."  
" _That was her choice, neither you nor I nor the Sith themselves are under any obligation to grant her aid in this trial_."  
" _Mirta Gev is not someone you try to take advantage of when they do you a favor, and then there's her Grandfather_."  
Once again Ship went silent, but this time Vestara was unsure why. " _Who is this Mirta Gev? Of what significance is she? It was apparent that she was the leader of the Mando who aided the Qrepth's, but beyond that who is she to demand such a favor from you? And of what significance does her Grandfather hold?_ "  
It was now Vestara's turn to be silent, she pondered to possibility of Ship honestly now knowing who Mirta was. But Mirta had mentioned being raised almost exclusively by her mother who used various alias's during her life. Then there was the fact that Fett himself had no way of knowing of Mirta's existence before they met so all in all it was probable Ship could be unaware of whom she is.  
" _Mirta Gev is the Commanding Officer of the Mandalorian Security Force_."  
" _The most recent incarnation of the Mandalorian Protectors_? _Then she is an individual of some standing on Mandalore_."  
" _She is also the Granddaughter and only living descendant of Boba Fett._ "  
" _The bounty hunter Boba Fett? Does he still hold the position of Mand'alore_?"  
" _Yes._ "  
" _The Nano-Killer that prevents her from returning home, it was also designed to kill any of her reletives, this include's Fett, the Supreme authoritative figure on Mandalore_?"  
" _Yes, as well as a portion of the entire Mandalorian population, Fett's father was the Template for the Republic's clone army_."  
Ship was silent for a long time now, Vestara almost wondered if he had simply left he was so quiet, or if he was once again contemplating her words but in greater depth. But eventually he did speak " _Very well. I shall not bar you from this endeavor._ "  
Vestara was now immensely confused as to what could have prompted this change in tone from Ship. " _I don't understand. A moment ago..._ "  
" _A moment ago I was not privy to the benefits of your action's_."  
" _Beg pardon_?"  
" _The Sith and Mandalorian's have a long history of cooperation with one another. Before I lacked the proper information regarding this Mirta's heritige, I find there is very little official record of her. But if you, Lady Khai, were to return the Mand'alore and his family home they would most certainly be indebted to you. And given the cultural importance Mandalorian's place on their own planet, it would be a great debt_."  
It now dawned on her the conclusion Ship had drawn and was horrified by what he was suggesting. " _Wait! I'm not so sure-_ "  
" _I will inform the Sith of your action's, I'm certain they will more than approve and mayhaps be willing to overlook your failure to secure the Monolith for them. We shall await your eventual return, with the Mandalorians_."  
" _NO! Ship!_ " But unfortunately he had broken the mental connection between them and no longer heard her words and Vestara could no longer feel his presence. "Nononononono!" Vestara began trembling violently, Ship was now headed to tell the Sith she was eventually bringing a Mando army with her but even if she did wish to do so Mirta loathed and despised the Sith and she doubted the felling wasn't shard with her Grandfather. A Sith had forced them from their home. A Sith Murdered Fett's only child, his daughter, Mirta's mother. And then there was the torture Mirta herself suffered under Caedus, she knew if she ever tried to ask Mirta to aid the Sith she would probably tear Vestara's head off with her bare hands right where she stood! But now Ship and soon the Sith order itself would expect this, and this was not a failure that would be tolerated even if she did have personal information regarding the Skywalkers.  
Vestara was beginning to panic until she heard the door to the room open and she suddenly went still as Mirta walked in and saw Vestara lying still on her bed and assuming she was already asleep she saw no reason to bother her and simply readied herself for bed and adjourned to her own.  
All the while Vestara was trying not to have a fit right in front of her as more and more it settled in she had now two choices: Try to bribe and/or blackmail Mirta into convincing Fett to side with the Sith, OR, simply alienate herself from the Sith entirely. She knew they wanted control of the Monolith and she failed to secure it, now Ship is presenting them with the proposal of redemption upon her delivering a Mando army, she knew this to be unlikely if not impossible at best, and given how harshly her failure's were met in her own native faction of Sith she imagined they would not be forgiving of this blunder she knew they would come for her.  
And when they did anyone near her would be caught in the crossfire, and if she drug Mirta into another conflict with the Sith she would be livid ot say the least.  
Vestara had trouble sleeping as for the first time in quite a while, she was now truly scared as at any moment everything could come crashing down.

In the weeks that followed Vestara gained full function back in her hand as well as her legs, which eventually became mildly sore when she walked, which prompted Mirta to give her greater responsibilities during their business meetings. While Vestara still didn't like being exploited for her Force sensitivity she was pleased that now she could say she earning her keep more, and Rook began to question her presence less and less.  
But dispite all of this Vestara still kept her conversation with Ship secret from Mirta, she knew not how to divulge such a thing. Mirta wouldn't be pleased with this regardless and Vestara knew he likely wouldn't be able to resolve the matter without her finding out. But still she bid her time hoping a solution would show itself. But until then she continued to aid Mirta in whatever way was asked as she knew it best to stay in her good graces at the present moment.  
Unfortunately Vestara's prediction that Garrys wasn't the only problem from Mirta or Fett's past that would reveal itself. During their recent business ventures every time it was the same two scenarios, either the people they met legitimately wanted to help but couldn't as they lacked sufficient data on the virus itself or it was all elaborate traps set up by jilted parties who encountered Mirta or some member of her family in the past, either way all of their endeavors had ended in failure and disappointment with the only consolation being that Mirta was deal with these issues now and not later.

One day after returning from another failed meeting Mirta and Vestara simply returned to their quarters and went to bed, exhausted from yet another violent meeting.  
"Let's not take Chess Piece anywhere anymore."  
"It was an accident."  
"He called a Lasat a hairless Wookie, so he tried to kill us! Everything was going great before that!"  
"Okay he might be an idiot. I'll talk to him later."  
The two rested rather peacefully until and electronic chirping filled the air and broke the silence immediately irritating Vestara. " .THAT!?"  
"Uuugh it's my comm unit, someones trying to call me."  
"Turn it off and Ignore it."  
"I can't it might be important"  
"Well if it's a male, tell them where and how fast they can shove their apparatus!"  
"Can do." Mirta sluggishly wandered over to the noisy device and quickly tapped a button on her holo-comm which immediately projected the image of a blonde haired man wearing red and black Mando gear who Mirta immediately recognized. "CYAR'IKA!"Vestara's head immediately shot up as she had never heard Mirta's voice that high before.  
The projected man however simply smiled at Mirta."Hello Mirta, how have you been?"  
"I'm well, or as well as can be expected, You?"  
"I'm well."  
"How is grandfather?"  
"Still laconic, sometimes I honestly forget he's in the room he can be so quiet. Though he won't say it out loud he misses you to."  
Mirta chuckled at this. "While it's always good to hear from you Ghes, is something the matter or is this a personal call?"  
"Little bit of column A, little bit of column B. Do you by remember Venku Skirata?"  
"Venku, yes of course I remember him."  
"Well I'm sure you'll be pleased to hear that he was able to safely leave Mandalore before being exposed to the virus."  
"That's good."  
"And he's asked to meet with everyone, you ,me, your Grandfather, and any other clone descendants working on finding a cure, he want's to speak with us all at once."  
"What for?"  
"Now I don't have any detail's but he said he might have found a cure, or rather he might have discovered one existed ALREADY!"  
Mirta's face lit up and she stood straight up wide-eyed at Ghes "Ghes, don't you dare joke with me. Not you, not like that."  
"I would never lie about that. He want's to meet everyone at once so he only has to explain it once."  
"What else did he say?"  
"Nothing but he seemed confident in what or whoever his source was."  
"Ok fine when and where?"  
"I'll send you the coordinates, and he's just waiting on you for the most part. But if nothing else it will be good to see you again."  
"You too. Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum."  
Ghes smiled and repeated the phrase back at her before ending the call so Mirta could receive the coordinated he possessed. When Mirta turn around she noticed Vestara sitting up in bed and staring at her. "So, who was that? He your BoOoOoyfreind?" Vestara was making an effort to be as childish as possible Mirta simply rolled her eyes at her immaturity.  
"No he isn't."  
"Could have fooled me, your voice reached a pitch I'd never heard before."  
"He's not my boyfriend."  
"Well if he isn't then you want him to be."  
"No actually I don't."  
"Ok than who is he?"  
"His name is Ghes Orade, and he's not my boyfriend he is in fact my husband, there's a difference."  
"Husband, as in spouse, as in Mister Mirta Gev?"  
Mirta aughed at hearing Ghes referred to in such a manner. "No-one has ever called him that before but yes."  
"Why he not here with you?"  
"Because I want him watching my grandfather. Yes being away from him is painful but I need someone I trust above reproach to have his back regardless of how talented Fett is."  
Mirta began to return to her bed to get some rest before meeting with her husband until Vestara addressed her again.  
"What was that you called him?" Mirta turned to face her slightly puzzled "When you first saw him what did you call him?"  
"Oh Cyar'ika. Why?"  
Vestara simply shrugged "Curious, seemed important."  
"Ok. Cyar'ika means darling or beloved it's a term used to describe that special someone."  
"Okay and that last thing you both said to each other?"  
"Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum, it means 'I love you'."  
"Rather verbose don't you think?"  
"It's not a direct translation, the individual words have their own meaning, but when put together that's what they mean."  
"Ok."  
Now Vestara began settling to go to bed before Mirta interrupted her "I have a question now." Vestara once again turned to face her "That boy you were with, Ben. Is he just someone you were involved with or is her YOUR Cyar'ika." Vestara said nothing to this. "Food for thought." Both women laid back to rest and while Mirta slept soundly Vestara pondered her question, she didn't know what the answer was but knew what she wanted the answer to be.

 **A/N PART 5 OF 5 of the Quintuple update if you just tuning in the update started at 16.  
FINALLY! I have finally reached the point in the story I've wanted to be at for so long, everything up until now could essentially be considered filler because NOW I've reached the main portion! And hopefully my updates will be more frequent, God-willing.  
In the Next chapter I will address one of the expanded universes largest plotholes!**


	21. Chapter 21

Nar Shaada

As the Kandosii descended Vestara saw endless cities reminiscent to what she had seen on Coruscant, but with a clear difference. Coruscant itself had a somewhat refined look at first glance given the overall importance of the planet as a whole, only the slums in the lower layers of the planet were destitute and crime-ridden. This world however seemed dank, rundown, and overall filthy as well as unusually dark, save for the light emanating from the building's themselves Vestara saw no light on the tiny world.

As the Ship docked at the nearest spaceport and everyone disembarked Vestara noticed a number of the Mando didn't join them at all, which puzzled her given that they were technically all invited to this meeting. Vestara once again found herself seeking answers from Mirta, a habit that had become commonplace given Vestara's overall ignorance of the galaxy as a whole.  
"Why are they staying behind, doesn't this concern them?"  
Mirta answered but did not take her eyes off of a group of rather unsavory looking Devaronian's across the room from them. "You've never been to Nar Shaada before have you?" Vestara simply shook her head. "Well then I apologize for being the one to expose you to this cesspool."  
"Kind of looks like a small, more depressing version of Coruscant."  
"Yes well, while Coruscant is a respected place that serves as the political capitol of the republic itself where Senators, dignitaries and such all congregate, Nar shaada is one of those places where the galaxy itself defecates it's stagnant bile."  
Vestara nearly lurched at this rather explicit description. "How colorful."  
"But anyway, given how crime ridden this place is we all agreed that a portion of the crew should stay an keep the ship on lock down, lest unsavory characters should try something untoward. And then when we all get back we'll just convey what was said and done to everyone that stayed behind."  
"Okay, another question."  
Mirta finally turned to face her and held her hand up as if to halt her "Let me take a guess at what that question is. Why, of all the places in the Universe, are we meeting my Grandfather here?" Vestara simply nodded "Because he lives here at the moment." Vestara once again opened her mouth to make another quandary but was cut off by Mirta again "Why does he live here?" again Vestara simply nodded. "Well it's true over his LONG career he became...how to best describe it?"  
"Filthy stinking rich?"  
"There you go. He had numerous bank accounts, all well stocked so to speak. As well as numerous estates throughout multiple sectors so if he ever went on a job anywhere he always had a place to rest and resupply. But when we got my Grandmother out her Carbonite, she had nothing to make a living with. She'd been a hunter just like Grandpa, after nearly 5 decades of being frozen all of her contacts and business connections were either dead or retired. So Grandpa gave her everything."  
Vestara eyes widened as much as they could at hearing this "Everything?! As in..."  
"Bank accounts, Estates, investments. EVERYTHING!"  
Vestara began shaking her head "Wow, can't say I know of many who would do that for their ex."  
Mirta's expression turned somewhat serious and she turned her gaze away from Vestara as she spoke "Their marriage didn't end because they stopped loving each other, if anything it ended BECAUSE he loved her." Vestara didn't understand this remark at all but chose not to pry. "Despite everything that's occurred my Grandfather still cares about everyone in our family, he gave her everything so she wouldn't have to hunt ever again. So that she could rest and find peace, which after losing Mom, she really could have used."  
Vestara was silent for a moment before realizing she hadn't actually answered her base question at all. "So why does he live **HERE**?"  
"Oh, well when the virus hit my grandmother contacted us and offered to have the deeds to all of his estates returned so we would have some place to stay. At first he turned her down, citing that he could take care of himself, and me I haven't exactly stayed one place at a time lately. But she insisted we have some place to retreat to should the need arise and this is the only residence he would take back."  
Vestara glanced around the large open area of the Space port they stood in gazing upon several uncouth looking people, some even missing limbs, while others just looked utterly repulsive to behold. "And he picked this place because..."  
"Ah, I see that's what you were getting at. Well Nar Shaada may be full of the literal scum of the Universe, but **EVERYONE** knows of Boba Fett, and so **EVERYONE** knows to leave him alone, even here. Doesn't matter where you go Grandpa's still the scariest guy in the room."

After leaving the Space port Vestara, Mirta, and the Mando accompanying them entered several cabs to be taken to their destination. Throughout the cab ride Vestara gazed out the window into the distance taking in what passed for scenery, noting to the fullest just how much Nar Shaada contrasted with Coruscant. How different they truly were. But in the end she figured everything must have an opposite, and this was Coruscant's, one was the capitol of the republic the other the center of illegal trading by the Hutt's. Continuing her examination she saw building's that looked as though they were on the verge of collapsing and at one point she even thought she saw one on fire! And yet strangely enough Mirta claimed her grandfather to be perfectly safe in this abysmal place which made Vestara ponder the validity of the claims of Boba Fett's reputation, she had never met him yet he sounded larger than life and almost beyond belief. Yet she sensed no deception from Mirta when she spoke of Fett, so either Mirta believed him to be everything she said, or he really was!

Before too long they finally reached their destination, though Mirta was certain the driver intentionally took a longer route so as to make the cab fare higher than it should be. They found themselves deposited atop a large building of condominiums that was in surprisingly decent condition given what everything else in their immediate surroundings looked like. Atop of the building, set down on a landing pad, was a Firespray-31 class craft that Vestara herself pondered what it was doing at a residential building rather than at the spaceport, but figured t likely had something to do with it's compact frame and how easily it fit on the roof.  
At a nearby elevator they were awaited by two tall figures in Mando gear, the first was a blonde haired man with a small beard who wore primarily red armor with black decals but the helmet, which he held to his side, had the image of a large skull near the top. Vestara could easily recognize this man as the person Mirta spoke to previously, her husband Ghes Orade.  
The other wore faded green armor that could only be described as battle-worn. Dents, burns, and scuffs in the paint likely from blaster fire riddled the suit, the armor alone made the figure appear quite old. On his back he wore a small sage cowl that hung down to his waist, the pauldrons on his armor were yellow while the gauntlets were a faded rust color each as worn as the rest of his armor, and on his waist he wore a belt with numerous pouches and hand bags attached likely filled with a wide variety of tools to match any circumstance. Vestara wasn't sure but she assumed this aged warrior to be none other than Mirta's grandfather Boba Fett.  
Mirta herself smiled widely at the sight of both of them and upon making eye contact Ghes and Mirta both advanced towards each other. Upon finally reaching each other the two gleefully embraced one another holding the other for a long moment. Vestara couldn't help but let a small smile sneak its way onto her face as she felt happy for the two, Mirta quite obviously missed Ghes and it seemed the feeling was mutual. However after a moment this feeling of joy turned into mild amusement as she realized Ghes was almost an entire foot taller than Mirta as she only came to his collarbone causing her to notice Mirta had to jump slightly in order to hug him.  
When the happy couple finished their tender moment they were joined by Fett who stood with his head tilted towards Mirta, not once did he ever remove his helmet, Mirta herself greeted him with a smile and though it could not be seen she was certain he was smiling back.

Before too long the remaining Mando arrived each complaining or cursing at their individual cab drivers for taking a roundabout route similar to her and Mirta's experience and everyone made their way towards the elevators to adjourn inwards. Vestara soon joined Mirta and Ghes, whom had locked arms at this point to which Vestara herself found some overall amusement that didn't go unnoticed by Mirta.  
"What's so funny?"  
"Your smiling and someone isn't about to get maimed, set on fire, or in some other heinous fashion killed. It's unusual."  
Ghes found great amusement in this remark and started laughing before quickly receiving a stern look from Mirta which silenced him instantly, but his smirk still remained.

As each of them entered the elevator Vestara took one last glance at the docked Firespray and decided to placate her curiosity concerning it.  
"Does that ship right over there belong to one of you?"  
A big prideful grin stretched across Mirta's face upon reference to this particular craft "That, is the Slave I, my grandfather's ,and his father before him, personal ship."  
"Slave I, sounds inviting. Forgive me for sounding naive but how does he know nobody is going to mess with it **HERE**?"  
"He owns the landing pad it's docked on."Vestara rose an eyebrow to this as a it seemed quite random to simply own a landing pad. "As well as the entire top floor of condo's in this building, so you could say he owns the roof as well, no-one comes up here without his say so. And as I said before NOONE messes with him here."  
Vestara wasn't even remotely surprised that he simply owned the top portion of the building, especially given that they had just had a discussion in which he was once described as 'Filthy,stinking,rich'.  
Upon exiting onto the top floor she immediately noticed it appeared that it had been renovated so all the condominiums were now inter connected with a large open area between rooms, essentially giving it the appearance of a single story mansion. For a moment it almost made sense why Fett would have picked this out of all of his potential estates to hold onto.  
Glancing around Vestara noted that aside from the MAndo that had joined Mirta and her, as well as Ghes,there were several more present though it seemed likely they were under Fett's employ either as a hunter or as Mand'alore, as well as someone who strangely looked out of place. An elderly woman with primarily gray hair save for a few copper colored strands, she dressed herself in formal attire rather than any sort of armor, giving the impression she was not Mando, but what stood out was her left eye was covered by an eye patch. After a moment the woman noticed Vestara staring a made eye contact, when she did, an indescribable chill ran down her spine, she didn't know who she was but she now believed her to be dangerous.  
While distracted by the strong foreboding aura this woman gave off someone placed their hand on Vestara's shoulder causing her to nearly just right into the air, as she turned she saw it to simply be Mirta greeting her with a serious expression.  
"That's Natasi Daala. I think you should steer clear of her, for your own safety."  
Vestara turned to quickly examine the woman as she stood at the far end of the room typing something onto a data-pad, before turning back to Mirta. "Who is she that she's so dangerous at that age?"  
"Do not let Daala's age fool you. She is one of few remaining from the Galactic Empire, apparantly as the story goes she had an almost unsettling obsession with one of her commanding officers, practically worshiped the guy."  
Vestara gave Daala another quick glance, now getting the impression she should know where she is at all times. "Okay, but what dos this have to do with me."  
"YOU can use the force!" Vestara gave her a quick confused stare. "That commanding officer I told you about, he died when Luke Skywalker blew up the space station he was on. Since then Daala has had this extreme blood lust towards all Force-sensitives, especially those who actively serve as Jedi. She spent YEARS trying to kill Skywalker and his Jedi order. **IF** she finds out you can use the Force, and **IF** she finds out you used to date the son of the person she hates the **MOST** , well I shudder to think what she'll try. For you own safety steer clear of her, try to avoid any and all contact if you can."  
Vestara was now beginning to wonder where she was safer here or facing judgement from the Jedi? "Okay, if she's so scary, **WHY** is she  here?"  
"Well, last I heard she was in prison for abusing her power as the Republic's Chief Of State. I also heard she was facing the death penalty, I guess Grandpa must have broken her out."  
"Okay, why would he do that!?"  
"Well Daala has never had a problem with us, we've actually enjoyed a decent relationship with her, I even had her as a guest when me and Ghes got married. Although I won't lie having her and Jaina in the same room was equally awkward and entertaining"  
Vestara rolled her eyes at the mental image of romantic wedding taking place whilst in the back of the room Daala and Solo sat there eyeing each other fiercly while separated by two Mandalorian ushers, but then remembered another point she felt it important to clarify. "What did she do that earned her the death penalty?"  
"She was rather abusive with her political power, people called her a 'Second Palpatine'. She tried to use Mandalorian mercenaries to execute slaves who revolted, she tried to turn the Jedi into her pawns by holding the children of a member of the council hostage. And she spent her last moments in power trying to destroy the Jedi **AGAIN**!"  
"Oh, so just little things right?!"  
After a moment Mirta let out a small amused chuckle that piqued Vestara's curiosity. "Although I guess in a sense she is, albeit indirectly, responsible for you meeting your boyfriend."  
"Say what now?"  
"Correct me if I'm wrong but when you met dear old Ben, he was just traveling with his dad, right?" She gave a quick nod "And had they not been out on whatever mission they were on you might not have met them,yes?" Vestara simply nodded again. "Did you ever wonder what they were doing out in that sector of space by themselves?" After a moment's contemplation she realized she actually didn't know what they were doing out there, causing her to once again regret not knowing more about Ben's life, but after a moment Mirta understood Vestara didn't know the answer to her quandry. "Daala exiled Skywalker for the crimes of his nephew, Jacen Solo, or as others knew him Darth Caedus."  
"Why did she exile him? It's not like he did anything."  
"Caedus was dead, the public wanted their pound of flesh, so to speak, Daala argues that out of everyone Skywalker should have known, should have seen Caedus's fall to the Dark Side. He was the Grand Master, which as a Jedi made him Solo's superior, he was his personal Jedi Master, and he was his uncle as well. In some cases Solo spent more time with his uncle than his own parents. Daala argued that the fact that Darth Caedus even came to power was a failure of Skywalker himself for not seeing his descent into madness. So she exiled him, his son tagged along so Daddy wouldn't be lonely, and then they met you."  
Vestara was now holding her head as this was all somewhat painful to keep up with. But she understood the gist of what she needed to, stay away from Daala.

"Everyone's here that needs to be." Vestara turned to see Fett standing right behind them and was alarmed at how silently he seemed to move. After a moment Fett turned his gaze towards her and looked her up and down, before simply turning and walking away without another word.  
Curious as to what grabbed his attention she looked down and remembered she was still wearing some of Mirta's armor, it was advised she do so given that Mandalorian's apparently don't like outsiders being involved in thier personal business. But she got the strange feeling he might not have taken well to seeing his only grandchild's armor on another.  
"That's going to be a fun conversation."

As everyone gathered into a large room for their intended meeting Vestara spotted an elderly figure at one end of the room, he looked to be around Skywalkers age, with faded brown hair, what really sttod out was his armor which seemed patched together from different pieces of different typed of armor. But after staring for a moment she realized something about him, suddenly as this realization came to her his head shot up and he stared directly at her and shook his head ever so lightly as if imploring her not to speak of what it is she just discovered.

As everyone finally situated themselves in the room, Fett walked over to the man Vestara had just seen and addressed the room. "For those of you who don't know this is Venku Skirata, one of my top advisors. He's the reason we're all here today." Fett then tilted his head back towards Venku and simply nodded before stepping to the side.

Stepping forward he cleared his throat so as to better address everyone, and gave a quick glance back at Vestara to bid her silence before starting. "As some of you may or may not know, my Grandfather Kal Skirata was one of the training officer's for the clone army of whom the majority present are descended. One thing that stood out in his military career, was a deep devotion and protectiveness towards all under his command. Kal ws responsible for halting the accelerated aging of the clones, that allowed them to live full lives, resulting in many here having the chance to be born." Venku took a moment to clear his throat again. "I'm sure several of you have been trying to find means of use returning home, of ridding the Planet of the nanovirus in it's atmosphere, and I estimate several of you have been running into the same problem, everyone you speak to says something along the lines of the virus having been chemically altered to the point that noone can assuredly synthesize a cure." Looking around he noticed scattered nods and other gestures of confirmation. "You see, back during the First year of the Clone Wars, the Separatist's developed a nanovirus, much similar to what we are dealing with now, to kill the entire army. My grandfather was part of a team that personally prevented the deployment of said virus, and all remaining samples were preserved and confiscated by the Republic. When the Republic became the Galactic Empire, Emperor Palpatine began to utilize this virus to kill anyone who rejected his rule by removing the compound that made the virus target a single individual, instead it simply targeted all organic life."  
Vestara grimaced at the thought of this. " _This Palpatine guy sounds like a dick!_ "  
Venku now began pacing up front as he spoke with his hands linked behind his back. "Our people have never exactly held a positive relationship with the Jedi Order, history has seen us on opposite side quite often. But the Clone's of the Republic's army held a deep sense of loyalty to the Jedi they fought beside and called their brothers-in-arms. The reality that Palpatine may turn this Nanovirus upon our homeworld became more and more likely as time passed,and so an antigen was developed, a cure for said virus." At the sound of this everyone, especially Mirta became quite intrigued and stood at attention on each of his words. "It is my belief that the Virus currently Plaguing our home is a modified variant of the same one developed by the Separatist's. After the Antigen was developed several Mando, my Grandfather included, released it into Mandalores atmosphere, so the virus could never be used on our people. I believe the reason Caedus altered the virus was so it wouldn't be affected by the Antigen that already existed in the atmosphere. Now we have been able to acquire some data regarding the virus and the manner in which it was altered. However we still require the data pertaining to the antigen already developed. Unfortunately there inlies the problem, we haven't been able to discern where the data is being stored."  
One of the Mando present stepped forward to address Venku looking somewhat displeased "So what exactly are you telling us, a cure exists you just don't know where it is? What was the point of this meeting then?"  
Venku simply stood silent for a moment, his expression not changing at all before walking forward to address the question "I'm telling you that after several years of the entire galaxy telling you at every turn that it is impossible for any of us to ever go home, I have discovered a solution does exist, and it has existed longer than you and most of the people in his room have, you just have to go and find out what rock it's buried under. What I'm saying is that there does in fact exist a hope for us to go back to our lives. We've just been looking in the wrong places. Would you have rather I kept that to myself?"  
With this the Mando simply sank his head and walked back to where he originally stood before Fett Came forward to address the room.  
"We've narrowed down the possible locations of the antigen itself to several differant military outposts that the scientists who work on it would have worked for prolonged periods of time, as well as any place the Mando who dispersed the antigen would have served in the event they had the foresight to safeguard any sample. We will distribute this list shortly and decide who shall investigate each base, understood." Everyone simply nodded without raising any objections of any sort, again surprising Vestara at how everyone seemed so respectful of him. "If there's nothing else this meeting is over."

As everyone began to exit the large room they had congregated in Mirta made her way towards her grandfather excitedly, while Vestara made her way to Venku who stood near Fett. Upon reaching him he simply held a finger in front of his mouth, again bidding her silence and leaned forward to whisper to her. "Later."  
"Pardon?"  
"We will speak later, and you may ask your question then. Until that point be silent of what you know."  
Vestara was beginning to realize he was a man of many mysteries and that Mirta and her Grandfather surrounded themselves with rather interesting people.

 **A/N HAHAHA An update in only one day I feel better already.  
And I finally brought Boba Fett and Venku Skirata into the story despite having them tagged since I uploaded the first chapter, I'm not a liar anymore.  
And yes that part about the Separatists creating a nanovirus for the clones and Kal Skirata distibuting a cure, I didn't make that up! That actually happened, this is why authors should talk to one another the whole saga of Mirta doing bad things in the Crucible to try and get a cure could have been circumvented entirely, in fact the whole Mandalore getting poisoned could have been avoided. You guys FAIL! And technically the virus Caedus released had been altered already so as to last a long time, so it has been altered.**


	22. Chapter 22

As the night progressed and the crowd within the building slowly dissipated, Vestara herself remained near the back of the room, figuring that anything that concerned her Mirta would fill her in on. She tried to draw as little attention to herself as possible as she came to understand more and more she did not fit in with this particular crowd, and she wished to avoid drawing the particular attention of Natasi Daala whom Mirta had warned her to stay away from for her own safety.  
As her time with Mirta had continued she discovered more and more of instances in which the Sith had made an enemy of the Mando'ade, which made her realize it might not be prudent for her to remain with them for very much longer as regardless of what she referred to herself Ship still ran around addressing her as a Sith Lady, eventually her history would birth strife within such present company.

Mirta herself regaled her husband to the unusual and rather eccentric misadventures she and the rest of the crew on the Kandosii had been involved, though she took care to avoid mentioning anything about Vestara's use if the Force, though she made mention their were aspects of her tales that couldn't be said in public which confused and intrigued Ghes at the same time.  
After a while when the number of Mando had reached a small few remaining in the building, Fett motioned for Mirta and Ghes to join him and Venku for a briefing, to which Mirta in turn signaled for Vestara to join them. After glancing over and seeing that Daala standing near Fett and Venku she rather wished to avoid going over at all if possible as Daala herself made her weary, but she recognized that randomly refusing to get close to someone would draw suspicion to herself so she gave in and joined everyone for their briefing.  
As Vestara walked over she noticed Daala was already staring at her, at least she thought she was it was difficult to tell given that she only had one eye, Mirta noticed her discomfort and decided to draw the attention from her by tapping on Venku's arm to get his ."Just curious but ,why now do you have all of this information, I mean it's been several years since the Virus was released why only now are you bringing this to us."  
True to Mirta's intent Daala had now ceased staring at Vestara and was like everyone else focusing on Venku for an explanation to Mirta's quandary.  
"Oh, well I can understand the confusion, you see my Grandfather adopted quite a few of the clones he commanded and trained, on top of his natural-born children the Clan Skirata grew quite a bit as a result. And so when he passed there were quite a few beneficiaries to his will. He kept thorough detail of his military career within personal logs, especially after the Empire took over he most certainly did not trust them to keep any record. But as a result of how large our family had grown many of these personal logs weren't kept in one single place anymore. It took me quite some time to safely get my own possessions off of Mandalore at which point I found reference to a possible antigen in his files. Afterwards I reached out to the remainder of Clan Skirata and implored they search his belongings for any continued reference. "  
By now Vestara had joined them and she noticed once again Fett had begun to stare at her, she realized continuing to wear Mirta's armor around her friends and family was drawing more attention to her than she liked, but fortunately his pause was brief as he handed Mirta a small data storage device. "There's a list of possible locations on here, none stand out particularly as being more likely than the others, but each location Kal Skirata personally served time at, Venku is rather certain that increases our chances." Mirta reached out and gladly took the storage drive while Vestara herself almost wondered what the point of gathering everyone in the room was. "However."  
" _Here it comes._ "  
"We want you to investigate a possible lead elsewhere before those on that drive."  
Mirta simply shrugged non-nonchalantly and nodded slightly. "Sure, where?"  
"Coruscant."  
Vestara's eyed shot wide open at hearing the intended location and very nearly shouted in protest, though not wishing to make a scene she held her protest inward and started coughing as a result, ironically resulting in everyone present staring at her anyway. Realizing the embarrassing predicament she had left herself quickly tried to regain her posture. "Heartburn."  
Mirta once again in an act of both kindness ,and self-service, decided to address her curiosity on the matter of their mission. "Why exactly Coruscant? If they had any information regarding this surely they would have shared it, if for no reason other than to clean up their own mess."  
Fett merely turned his stare towards Venku who chose to answer. "After the Empire was established one of the first things they did was alter historical records to give themselves a brighter image. If any such record does exist on Coruscant it likely would be hidden, and given the enormous mess that was inherited when the new Republic was established it certainly isn't outside the realm of possibility that many records haven't been properly tended to."  
While Daala made it clear through her expression she did not like someone speaking ill of the Empire, Mirta accepted this answer. Though she did not see it first hand she had been told that between the Empire simply letting things fall apart around them and the rebellion itself when the new Republic was officially formed it was most certainly disorganized at first. "Okay, but why would they themselves have any data on the cure? You said it wasn't produced until after the Empire was formed, why would they keep data on the cure when they wanted to kill the Mando'ade for not bending to their will?"  
"The same reason we keep data on the Virus itself, to study and try to circumvent. We believe the Empire planned to try and create their own antigen to counteract the original so the Virus would pose a threat all Caedus had to find the data on the Virus from somewhere and he was serving as Head Of state at the time, so we know record of the virus was preserved in some form."  
Mirta was now rubbing her head, while she followed his logic and everything he was saying it was nerve-wrecking to do a moment's pause Daala herself finally spoke for the first time since they had arrived. "I have connections with the Imperial Moffs, they owe me so to speak, while you and your crew investigate Coruscant, I will have one of my contacts investigate the records kept in the Imperial Remnants capital. "  
Mirta's face suddenly lit up at a sudden realization and quickly waved her hand to get everyone to face her. "Hold on, I almost forgot. You said you got data on the Virus before, where from?"  
Fett turned his whole body to face Mirta almost respectfully."Tehiri Veila."  
Hearing this name made Mirta's eyes twitch for a moment and she began to clench her fist for a moment, before realizing she was still holding Ghes's hand and was causing him distress. "How did you come across her?"  
"I was searching for data on the Virus, she was under the employ of the Imperial Head of State at the time. We had a rather unusual mutual encounter with a rather unusual person. When everything concluded she gave me a data-drive containing all the information she had. It was a kind gesture, but ultimately as we've stated the information was incomplete."  
Fett once again stared back at Vestara giving making her feel even more uncomfortable, and giving the impression he didn't like her wearing Mirta's armor, before shortly turning and walking away conveying his final message from over his shoulder. "When your done on Coruscant we'll rendezvous to let you know how it went on our end, if nothing, then just go down the list."

As everyone began to disperse and go about whatever other business they had Venku, remembering Vestara, quickly turned to speak to Mirta before she left with Ghes. "Would you mind terribly if I asked your friend here to assist me with something?" Pointing as Vestara herself as he spoke.  
While Mirta was initially confused by this request she simply figured that given his old age he simply required the aid of someone more physically capable and didn't wish to disturb Mirta herself or Ghes, and so she simply gave an accepting nod.  
"Excellent." Gesturing towards a nearby doorway he extended his arm as if beseeching Vestara go first. "Right this way, Miss?"  
"Raine. Sevara Raine."  
Venku gave a small glare suggesting he too could tell this name to be fictitious but nonetheless maintained his pleasant composure. "Right this way, Miss Raine."  
As the two departed Vestara very carefully gazed over her shoulder to find Daala was again watching her but eventually turned and left, giving Vestara some relief.

As the two closed themselves into a nearby room Venku waited a moment to ensure no-one could possibly interrupt them before finally signalling for her to break her silence.  
"Your force sensitive!"  
"Same to you young miss."  
"But your hiding it."  
"As are you young miss."  
"Yes, but that's because my life is a tumultuous mess, why are YOU hiding your true self?"  
Venku glanced once more at the door to ensure no-one was going to interrupt them before slowly pacing back and fourth across the room. "How's your history, does the term order 66, or rather the Jedi purge as it was publicly referred, mean anything to you?"  
"Mirta mentioned it, so I know OF it."  
"Well I was only a year old when this event took place. Full fledged Jedi were either killed outright or given the opportunity to join the Empires Inquisitorum, which is another story altogether. Children such as myself back then were forcefully indoctrinated into their service. I have hid my nature for years out of pure necessity, for the safety of myself and what few loved ones I have left."

Vestara understood the concept of hiding out of a deep-seated need, for survival. But it was his continued deception that baffled her. "The empire fell apart around forty years ago, and the Jedi order has been re-established, why do you still hide?"

Venku smiled at her question an momentarily ceased his pacing to answer directly. "I have had to live so much of my life being suspicious of everyone I encounter, being careful and analyzing who I speak to, while I lost my parents I still possessed a large family through Clan Skirata, I spent so long viewing anyone I met as a threat to every single one of my family. Living with the fear that any mistake I made would rain upon them all.  
Eventually the danger passed and I could breath, the fear dissipated. But the sense of analyzing everyone and everything has become second nature, I do not implicitly trust anyone."  
"Not even Fett?"  
"Fett has these past few years earned a substantial amount of my trust, and his time with Mirta has bettered him as a person in my opinion. But I have chosen to keep this secret a little longer."  
"May I ask why specifically?"  
"Fett still occasionally associates with Kamionian's, and they do love their cloning. I do not particularly wish to have copies of myself made."  
Vestara stare for a moment, her head cocked. "I don't understand."  
"The Kaminoans paid a handsome fortune for Jango to willingly give his DNA for their first clone army. A great fear when I was young was that the Empire or Fett himself would seek to sell my DNA to the Kaminoans for the purpose of creating a new army."  
"I understand the Empire but why Fett?"  
"Fett once had a reputation for being one who would do just about anything to line his pockets. Even before he was Mand'alore he held an infamous reputation among the Mando'ade, he was both feared and respected considerably, the only difference mattered if you were freind or foe.  
You see he was once a very destructive and rather unhinged person, and above all, self-serving. He has improved considerably and is a much better person, he has calmed. In my personal opinion his rather uncouth behavior in the past was an effect of his losing his family, in order to keep going he vented his rage and frustration upon the universe itself.  
And so my family felt it pertinent to keep my secret even from Fett."  
"How exactly did he lose his family?"  
"I know of the official report, but not the whole story."  
"And the official report?"  
"He once served as a protector for Concord Dawn, one day he apparently killed his C.O., and after his release from prison he was exiled from his home residence which made it difficult if not impossible to see his family."  
"Did he kill his C.O.?"  
"Yes, but WHY, is a matter they do not speak of outside direct family. There are perhaps 3 maybe 4 people who can tell you the truth.  
Fett does not wish to speak of it at all.  
Ghes ,if he knows of it, would never tell without Mirta's knowledge or permission.  
So only Sintas and Mirta themselves could tell you what happened. But you see as complex a person as Fett is, he is also quite simple in certain ways, one being that beneath his silent,stone-faced exterior lies a man who dearly wants a family like everyone else. When he lost his family he spent years taking out his fury on anyone unfortunate enough to find their way into his cross-hairs. And while Mirta has proven to be a blessing for his sense of humanity as well as his sanity, and a walking embodiment of closure that Fett has needed desperately, I still require time to gauge how much of the hunter persists and how much of the man himself has returned."

Vestara looked at her feet thinking of her own tragedies and how she could sympathize with him."I understand the pain of losing ones family, not quite the same way as him, but still."  
"Then you understand his rage. And the need to placate it. "  
"Indeed."  
"On top of all of that, revealing myself as force-sensitive isn't particularly wise given Daala's increasing presence."  
"Oh yes, she certainly knows how to make one feel uncomfortable, I've been warned to be cautious around her."  
"Take that advise to heart, Daala may not be force-sensitive herself but she is dangerous. She has proven she can hold a grudge for as long as she needs to, and with as resourceful as she is ,it is not wise to draw her ire."

After a moment's contemplation Vestara quickly pointed towards him having remembered another matter of confusion. "Your mother, she was a Jedi wasn't she? That's how your Force-Sensitive."  
"My being Force-Sensitive doesn't necessarily have to do with my parentage at all,Mandalorian's are human just like you after all. Any human can be born with the Force."  
"And yet Mandalorian's aren't. I've only ever met one other and he was a special circumstance that doesn't count."  
"I'm curious but I presume that's a story for another time."  
"Despite Mandaorian's being human none of them have ever displayed a capacity to use the Force."  
Venku smirked at her remark and very shortly after reached into his pouch at his waist and produced two lightsabers."Yes, yes she was. My mother I mean. She was a Jedi, and these were hers. Specifically she was the Jedi commanding my Father's squadron."  
"So, your dad took 'sucking up to his boss' to a whole new level."  
"I'm ignoring that." Tucking his mothers sabers into his pouch once again.  
"What happened to her?"  
"She was unfortunately killed in the cross-fire while trying to help my father and his team escape Coruscant. I was only a year old. Kal had already adopted my father's entire squad and my mother into his clan. So when she died and my father was unable to escape the Empire, he took care of me, as his grandchild."  
"I'm terribly sorry."  
"Don't be, the Empire took from everyone, we all bear scars from them in some form or another."  
"Now may I ask why everyone is so convinced people want to clone YOU!?"  
"The Kaminoans augmented the DNA of all the clones to make them stronger than ordinary soldiers, but these augmentations resulted in their DNA being unstable and inefficient for the purpose of cloning. I however was quite possibly the first child born of a clone, given their being forbidden from procreating within war-time. I inherited my father's genetic augmentation's but my DNA has been stabilized by my mother's inherited genes. Theoretically any clone produced from me could be augmented beyond what the original's were, and then there's the matter of my Force-Sensitivity. I was never fond of the idea of someone creating a Force-using army of super-soldiers from my DNA, and selling it to the highest bidder. I refuse to have that calamity-in-progress on my conscience."

Vestara nodded to this before Venku resumed his pacing and gave her an inquisitive stare. "Now that I've answered the question of myself, lets talk about you! You are Force-Sensitive yet you travel with a group of Mando'ade, and your wearing Mirta's armor, likely in an effort to fit in, or give the appearance that you do."  
"Currently I don't know how you'd label me, I'm still trying to sort out the sordid mess I've made of myself. "  
Stroking his chin he began staring her up and down for a moment before gazing at her in a manner that seemed as though he were staring through her, seeing what was past her. Suggesting he might be trying to read her. "Your Sith?"  
Vestara momentarily cringed as though she weren't asked but accused "Former, I stress this, former."  
"You don't seem to sure about that, you say it with confidence, but you sound more like your trying to convince yourself than me."  
"I'm not with the Sith in any official capacity and at the moment I've no interest in reversing that."  
"Now see that you meant, that you believed. But still when you say you outright aren't Sith, you seem unsure. You seem like you need someone to say it back, to make it real. Otherwise your not declaring yourself rid of the Sith, your begging to be rid of it."  
Vestara's head sunk for a moment and she drug her hands across her face as if trying to clear her line of sight and continued to stare at the floor. "I'm complicated. But for the moment just trust I mean neither you nor Mirta any harm."  
"Trust? I believe I just went over the fact that I don't trust. I've only told one other person outside family who I really am, and I made sure I knew who that person was."  
"Who was it? Maybe we've met."  
"...Jaina Solo."  
"Oh for the love of-YEP we've met! She doesn't like me."  
"And why is that?"  
"She thinks I tried to kill her niece."  
"Did you?"  
"No, but I made it look like I did."  
"Why? That seems like a stupid thing to do. I personally helped Boba train her on how to kill Force-Sensitives so I can attest to her abilities."  
"Great in the event she does kill me one of these days, I'll have you to blame. Nerf-herder."  
"You made people think you tried to kill Jaina's niece and **I'M** the nerf-herder? Now to our original train of thought. Who are you?"  
"I was born and raised Sith. Circumstance made me realize I didn't like my life, I didn't like who I was. I tried to create a new life, a new beginning, but only wound up utterly destroying that which was most precious to me."  
His stare slowly became more and more sympathetic as she spoke. He could tell she was either telling the truth, or she spoke what she believed "And what is it that you destroyed so completely?"  
"The faith, the trust of the only person I've ever loved. Now I don't know what I am to him, but whatever he sees me as now, it's not whatever he saw before."  
"...Maybe you aren't as horrible as you perceive yourself."  
"Oh really?! And how do you figure?"  
"You feel regret for your action's, and I can see if you were given the chance to rectify these past events, you would. You would try to grasp that new beginning anew. No child, you aren't Sith. Nor do you pose a threat to Mirta." With this almost ominous statement he turned and made way for the door.  
Vestara was now thoroughly confused and tried to stop him. "Wait! That's it? You've no other questions? There's nothing else you want to know?"  
He only stopped when he reached the door and chose to address her without turn back towards her. "Your life is your own, I understand quite well the need to hide yourself within this particular crowd, I've given my reason for concealing my identity, and I'm convinced you aren't a threat that needs to be addressed at the moment." He then momentarily turned towards her. "But you still lack direction, you are lost in more ways than one. I may know someone who can help you find some clarity."  
"Who?"  
Turning back opening the door and partially stepping out. "That's of no concern at the moment, there are more pressing matters, but I will arrange a meeting. For now go about your business with Mirta, and trust me, that I will keep your secret from those you wish."

For a few moments longer Vestara sat in this empty unoccupied room completely alone, realizing more and more Boba Fett surrounded himself with very interesting characters. His top advisor was secretly a Mandalorian Jedi, while his current business partner in this whole ordeal was vehemently anti-Jedi. But she stopped and thought how nice it felt for someone taught as a Jedi to look at her and say, She wasn't a Sith. For the first time in a long time she felt like she could reconcile what she knew and what she chose.

 **A/N Yay trying to catch up on all the time I've lost.**  
 **Not much happens in this Chapter, talking mostly. Vestara and Venku meeting will have significance later, so there was relevance to their heart-to-heart.**


	23. Chapter 23

Following her conversation with Venku Vestara decided to simply remain out of everyone's way for the time being so that she might ponder some of what they spoke of, specifically his rather confident affirmation of her departure from the Sith. It was true she had willingly chosen once to leave the Sith and pursue a future among the Jedi, but when circumstance tested her and the time came to prove whether or not she was truly capable she fell short. When she, Ben,and a falleen Jedi named Natua Wan were sent on a mission together Abeloth had set a trap, and when Ben was placed in danger Vestara willingly sacrificed Natua to allow her to get Ben to safety. When circumstance turned on them she allowed a complete stranger to die so she could save the person there she actually cared about, when push came to shove she only had her own concerns in mind.  
Regardless of wheather she decided to ever go back to the Jedi someone would want answers for that day, and that would be the greatest obstacle.  
Then there existed the incident involving Ben's niece Allana, another situation where she chose the less amicable of solutions. It seemed as though everytime an opportunity was afforded her to prove she COULD be a Jedi she failed the test, she always solved the problem in a manner befitting a Sith, and yet Venku declared quite confidently that she wasn't one.  
What was it he saw,or thought he saw, within her?  
Truth be told she actually as of late was fond of the idea that she wasn't a Sith anymore, but wasn't quite sure what brought about this change of opinion wasn't sure what caused this sudden paradigm shift within her mind.  
She certainly liked the idea that the path of the Jedi wasn't closed off to her, she had in fact chosen it of her own free will. She made that choice, it was what she wanted. But while she entertained the idea anything was possible she had trouble grasping whether it was probable.

After a little while she decided to cease this train of thought until later when they were in the privacy of their quarters aboard the Kandosii, however she didn't know exactly when that would be as everytime she sought to speak with Mirta she seemed far too involved in whatever matter her and her husband were engaged in, and Vestara simply didn't have it in her to pull her away.

After a brief while Vestara simply deemed it would be best to head back to the ship by herself and wait until Mirta was done visiting with her family, for though she placed such importance upon the matter herself she did so dearly miss her loved ones, and Vestara did not enter into this picture at all. She decided to at least tell Mirta of her departing first and perhaps retrieve the data-unit from her to give to Rook or someone else aboard the Kandosii so they might plot a course of which destinations to travel to first in the event Coruscant didn't pan out. However while she extricated herself from her resting spot and headed over to Mirta and Ghes she was stopped by a stern elderly voice from behind her.  
"So, how do you fit into this?" Vestara turned suddenly to find Natasi Daala standing behind her giving a rather inquisitive stare at the former Sith. "I couldn't help but notice your wearing a suit of armor formerly worn by Mirta herself, yet you don't seem to be Mandalorian at all. So how do you fit into all of this?"  
For a moment Vestara stared trying to think of rebuttal, but simply opted to investigate her suspicion. "Why do you believe I am not Mando'ade?"  
Daala gave a light chuckle that sounded almost condescendant "You most certainly don't present yourself as one. You don't seem to have brought your headgear at all something I've never seen a Mandalorian without, you don't even seem to have yourself put together to wear any. Your hair is too long and undone to cover yourself and if I'm not mistaken your wearing make up. You seem to place a bit of emphasis on your outward appearance, more focused on making yourself look pretty than actually keeping yourself safe.  
And you've come across as quite...confused, this whole time almost like you understand only the bare-basic of what is being said to you, not once has your expression really given the impression you understand present circumstances as much any Mandalorian should.  
And finally I've checked the registry of all Mandalorian's forced to vacate the planet due to the Virus, as well as a personal log of those within Fett and Mirta's employ, the name Sevara Raine, isn't on the list."  
Vestara stared somewhat dumbfounded at the prospect that this woman had actually been watching her THIS much, or that is was so obvious she wasn't Mando to people who were greatly familiar with them. Not wanting her to grow suspicious as a result of her silence she simply decided to give a basic answer. "Ok, your right I'm not, I'm just helping out Mirta as a friend."  
Daala rose her eyebrow not concealed by her eye patch and narrowed her remaining eye's stare seemingly unconvinced. "A freind? Well that would explain your presence, but why the outfit, why try to pass yourself off as one of them?"  
"This is a personal matter, and Mando'ade aren't fond of allowing outsiders in on their business. Which if I may be so bold, why are you here? According to public record your supposed to be in jail." Daala's face twitched as she tried desperately to hold back a deep scowl.  
"While I'm sure Fett has no issue with your being here, not everyone is so tight lipped when it comes to reporting fugitives. And in the event someone did it might create a problem for Fett, which if he and Mirta share any personality, he won't take kindly to.  
So I suppose the question is why am I dressed up and you aren't?"  
Daala's face twisted into what Vestara could not differentiate between a sneer or a smirk. " _My, your quite cheeky!_ "  
Daala took a short moment to regain her proper poise and stoicism whist trying to hide the fact that the former Sith had irked her. "I am here as Fett's personal guest upon extricating me from prison, noone here would be foolish enough to try and report my presence, especially not here. Nar Shaada is quite famous for being, lacking shall we say, in law enforcement. If you aren't already familiar with it ,I'm sure you'd be quite surprised what goes on unnoticed here. So to answer your question, I'm not hiding because I've no reason to do so I am perfectly safe and secure here regardless of where I come from. "  
For a moment Vestara stared in awe at Daala's self-assuredness, her confidence that though she were perhaps even more a fugitive than Vestara herself that where she stood now she was untouchable, a confidence that almost frightened her as she understood the implications of what one who viewed themselves so invincible might believe themselves capable. She had learned that sometimes mere delusions of grandeur were deadly enough.  
"Now." Daala seemed to have started her interrogation anew. "I must admit I find it curious as to why your with Mirta herself."  
"As I said I'm her friend." Not seeing the particular need to repeat herself " _Geez,can't you listen?_ "  
Daala continued her accusatory stare for a moment longer. "Well i find it peculiar that she seems to keep you close, as in personally aiding her, all the while loaning you a suit of armor she's outgrown. Mandalorian's are sensitive about such things like that. i find it peculiar she allows a 'Freind' to travel with her when she keeps her own husband at arms length, she seems to be keeping anyone she actually cares about at a distance, yet your here as a friend."  
" _Sweet merciful Sith, must everything be an interrogation._ " For a moment she stared again in awe at how much Daala seemed to have placed such an interest in her, finding the irony that the one person she wanted to avoid had apparently developed an unhealthy obsession with second guessing everything to do with her. "I...owe her, financially speaking."  
"You owe her a monetary debt?"  
"yeah, you ever been shot in the back of your knee and/or ankles?"  
Again Daala's brow rose curiously "No, I am pleased to say I haven't."  
Vestara quickly gestured towards both legs, specifically the aforementioned areas."Well I have, and let me tell you it's not comfortable. Mirta saw to it i received the appropriate medical assistance,though at great financial cost to herself. So in the mean time I'm working off my debt. "  
After a brief silence Daala relented and ceased her inquisitive stare, presumably satisfied with this answer, technically Vestara wasn't lying so regardless of how good Daala was as spotting deception this answer should have been satisfactory. "Well, I've never seen Fett allow someone who owes him money just walk away,friend or no. So I guess I shouldn't expect anything less from his progeny."  
After yet another pause Vestara assuming the conversation was over turned to leave only to be stopped by Natasi yet again. "So, if this is simply a favor/debt to a friend, whatever shall you do afterwards?"  
" _What is with you?!_ Why do you ask?"  
Daala gave a rather curious glare as her composure became serious once again "Simply ensuring our future goals do not conflict. After all it would be a shame for us to go through such a noble endeavor together only to immediately find ourselves on opposite sides. Or, perhaps our future goals coincide, good help can be so hard to find."  
Though not entirely sure why, Vestara felt nervous from her implicit tone and overall demeanor, and she still remained curious as to why Daala had taken such an interest in her to begin with. "Not that it's any of your business one way or the other, but I have personal matters to tend to after all this is settled. Personal matters that won't include any of you, ANY."  
"Perhaps, perhaps not."  
" _This woman is pressing the issue,why?!_ " Realizing it simply easier to relent and answer whatever queries Daala had, seeings as she seemed determined to dissect every aspect of her life she could. "Listen simple question, did you kill my parents last year? Did you bomb my home planet from orbit? Did you set loose some monster beyond description upon me?!"  
Daala was now herself quite confused and taken back by these questions and stared somewhat agape for a moment before recomposing herself again. "I...don't know your parents, and I certainly haven't bombed any planets as of late, that i know of. And I haven't encountered anything that would fit the description of a 'monster' lately, so no."  
"Then my personal business is just that,personal, I.E. doesn't concern you, so do cease asking."  
"Apologies." Which sounded less than sincere. "Simply a precautionary measure. I've come to find so often that today's ally can truly be tomorrow's foe. But it seems as though you've been through a crisis yourself, I understand how it feels to lose someone, so I can understand your uneasiness." In this moment Daala actually seemed to be honest with her, seemed to be sharing something. Vestara noticed as she reminisced about this her remaining eye slowly turned towards direction of her eye patch, at least that's what she thought she was looking at as there was nothing else in that direction. Nonetheless so far Vestara saw no reason to believe her openness was for anything purpose save for manipulation.  
"So after you've finished here, you simply seek to reclaim what remains of your life before this? in that regard we are the same, as I too simply wish to regain something that's been wrongfully stolen."  
In this moment Vestara was certain she knew to what she was referring, and wanted to strike Daala as a result. " _Your comparing losing your elected political position, to me losing my entire family and everyone I've ever known?!You got kicked out of office for being a cruel dictator, MY HOME WAS SET ABLAZE, MY MOTHER WAS MURDERED!_ " Despite this new sense of disdain Vestara said and did nothing, maintaining her stance and showed no new emotion. "So how far will this endeavor take you, reclaiming what you've lost?"  
"Hopefully not too far, at least not with the new help I hope to be getting very soon."  
"How soon?"  
Daala gave what seemed to be a rather conniving grin. "I suppose that timetable depends in part upon you!"

With this remark Daala finally seemed to be finished with her questions and left Vestara, who was now convinced her interrogation served no purpose other than to ensure Vestara herself wouldn't interfere with her attempt to return to her seat of political power.  
Once Vestara was certain Natasi had vacated the large room they stood in she continued over to Mirta, who seemed to still be engaged in some sort of pleasant conversation with Ghes.  
"Would it be possible to steal you way from the mister, for a moment?"  
Mirta's expression made it clear so most certain;y wasn't okay with this but decided to compose herself. "Can this wait?"  
"It probably shouldn't."

With a huff Mirta gestured for Ghes to wait as she stood up and stomped away so that she and Vestara might speak privately. "What is so important you had to interrupt us, I haven't seen him in over a year!?"  
"Well i have a question, I realize i often have many and i can only guess that placating my curious ignorance about the universe as a whole may becoming tedious, but answer one more thing if you please.  
What would be required for Daala to force herself back into the position of 'Head of state' of the Galactic Alliance?"  
Mirta scratched her head to this, pondering what prompted this before giving it some heavy thought. "The only way would be to instill herself as head of State against the will of the people, by force. And this by itself means at the very least seizing some degree of control over Coruscant itself, but she would then have to move onto the individual systems within the republic itself lest she have another rebellion on her hands.  
She would likely have to seize control of the Imperial remnant itself given the current bad blood between them. And while they aren't apart of the republic itself as an authoritative figure anymore, eventually she would be forced to contend with the Jedi themselves, as if she would ever let that grudge go.  
Also while it is not nor has it been a part of the Republic the Hapes Consortium has maintained a steady relationship with both the Republic and the Jedi order, so she would likely have to deal with them as it is all too probable that they wouldn't allow all that to go unabated.  
Taking and maintaining this amount of authority in order to place herself back as the head of the Galactic Alliance, to make this a reality, I daresay Daala would have all out war on her hands ."  
Hearing this answer Vestara sputtered for a moment trying to wrap her mind around this concept. "War? Your saying she'd have to start a war to become Head of State?"  
"As I said before my Grandfather and Daala have enjoyed a strong professional relationship, and I myself get along with her quite well. But be that as it may I can't deny she did abuse her power while in office, and ultimately did us, Mando'ade, no favors. She returned us to being a part of the Senate and the Galactic Alliance once again but then employed Mando'ade mercenaries to enforce her will and kill anyone who didn't agree with her, so everyone hates us again."  
"But, War? That's a stretch don't you think?""  
"Unfortunately no, she was removed from office and incarcerated for her actions. She is a fugitive so he can't regain her status through any legitimate election, and the list of people she would need removed so she could instill herself back into office by force is extensive. She might be able to get rid of a few roadblocks here and there, but ultimately I find it HIGHLY unlikely that she would be able to go all the way without someone noticing, and then the shooting won't be able to make this a reality through any peaceful means."  
"Okay one final question, do you have any intention of getting involved in all of that?"  
Mirta quickly jerked her back in shock whilst involuntarily letting out a loud scoff to this. "No! Why?!"  
Vestara took a quick look around to ensure Daala herself was nowhere near before speaking. "I just had a lovely conversation with Daala, by the way thanks for helping keep her from taking any interest in me."  
"Sorry."  
"Anyway she said something that seemed to suggest she fully intends to use you, all of you the Mando'ade, to help her reclaim her control of the Alliance and the Republic. She seems to think her service if you will is more or less an insurance for that purpose, that when all of this is over and you have your home back you'll say 'thank you' by doing everything you just said."  
Mirta sat somewhat dumbfounded at this trying to perceive the proposed scenario. "What?! No, she couldn't possibly expect us to do that. We,all of us, have important matters back on Mandalore. We have political unrest back at home, we still haven't properly recovered from previous wars. She couldn't possibly expect all of us this of us."  
Vestara shrugged lightly. " I don't know,in all fairness she didn't outright say it but this was the impression she gave. She want's us to finish our job so she can get 'help' all that much faster. I suspect this is something you'll have to sort out with your grandfather, after all she's apparently here as his personal guest,so I imagine she would have made these sentiments known to him. He may be on board with it."

Mirta took a moment to analyze Vestara very closely to see if there was the slightest hint of deception. Vestara herself had admitted that in the past she spun stories to serve her purposes, but here and now Mirta heard no deception in her voice, saw no faltering in her speech. As far as she could tell from reading her body language she was telling the truth,or at least what she perceived to be the truth.  
Personally Mirta didn't actually care what Daala did,whether she made bid's to reclaim her lost seat of authority, or simply spent what time she had left, which was uncertain given her advanced age, living in peace. But Mirta had always dreamt of returning to her homeworld and helping her grandfather, Fett, rebuild after the staggering losses their people had suffered at the hands of the Vong, and Caedus himself. There was work to be done to wipe away the scars of there conflicts and Mirta had always enjoyed the thought of seeing their people strong again since she fully embraced her Mandalorian heritage. But getting involved in another matter, another potential war, as soon as their people could return home, the thought perturbed her.

After a moment of silence Vestara decided it was now the best time for her to head to the _Kandosii_ as she had originally intended. "Well you look like you got things to figure out while your still here, so if you have no further need for me, I'm heading back."  
"Wait." Quickly grabbing her shoulder so as to hold Vestara still. "Nar Shaada isn't the best place to go wandering around alone, especially not a young woman in her teens. And I'm a little weary of Daala right now. Grandfather has set up rooms for us to stay the night so I'd rather you stay here until it's time for us to head out for Coruscant."  
To this Mirta began leading Vestara down a hallway along a row of bedrooms. "If it's all the same to you I would like it if you would retire for the remainder of our stay here. I don't know to what extent my grandfathers collusion with Daala is, and she seems to be weary of all new faces, if she is set on what you say she is and she learns who you really are she may very well come to see you as a future threat and will assuredly eliminate you the moment she deems you no longer necessary regardless of your connection to me. She wouldn't let my concerns halt her,if an obstacle exists she will tear it down, and while I wouldn't describe Daala as needlessly paranoid she did suffer an insurmountable loss when she was deposed so there no telling to what extent she is willing to go. And by reputation I know Daala to be one who has never hesitated to pull the proverbial trigger when it came to eliminating any sort of obstacle.  
So for the remainder of our stay make yourself scarce, you know how to get a hold of me if you need anything."  
"And 'Mr-Mirta-Gev'?"  
Mirta chuckled at the humorous nickname Vestara had come up with for her husband "What about Ghes?"  
"What's his take on all of this?"  
"He wants to go home. He want us to go home, together. We didn't really get to enjoy a whole lot of 'Marital bliss' before I got booted off world. He and I just want to go home, we don't want any wars, or conflicts of any kinds, he nearly died fighting Caedus and I was nearly paralyzed from the neck down so we just want to go home and take some time to enjoy our lives."  
"Sounds an awful lot like your 'buddy-buddy' relationship with Daala is on the rocks now."  
"Daala simply needs a reality check. As does my grandfather, that conversation will have to wait though, we need everyone looking for Skirata's data and not starting some internal scuffle."  
When Mirta finished leading Vestara to her designated quarters they simply departed without words, and while Vestara herself readied herself for rest Mirta stood in the hall for a moment by herself.  
"Just when thing's seem to look up, something else comes along."

 **A/N Dear lord I thought I would never finish this one, unfortunately my keyboard has begun to die which makes typing these chapters difficult, yay.**

 **On another matter I've finally decided to officially declare what type of ship the _Kandosii_ is, I have avoided describing the ship save for the fact that it is large enough to carry large groups of people for extended periods of time and has a shuttle, because I am heavily unfamiliar with Mandalorian ships except for one specific kind.  
Guess which one.  
** **Any way my main problem was I had wanted it to be a light-freighter like the Millennium Falcon, or the Ghost, but realized that type of ship might be too small for the number of people the _Kandosii_ is supposed to be carrying. So I realized it would be more practical to make it a _Corvette-class_ starship, specifically a _Crusader-class corvette_ albeit slightly smaller and less armed than the ones used in wartime's so as to make its use as a recreational means of conveyance more practical. So everytime they reference the ship now you have an image to put with it, yay.**


	24. Chapter 24

Vestara sat quietly within her and Mirta's shard quarters within the Kandosii, simply waiting for for her to return from the senate archives to either confirm or deny whether they held the answers thy sought.  
For the remainder of their visit to Nar Shaada Vestara did as instructed and remained scarce within the room set aside for her until it was time for them to depart. Though she had hated hiding away akin to a frightened child she did not wish to give Natasi Daala anymore reason to look deeper into whom she is.  
Mirta had risen a valid point of Daala, what little Vestara could research of her proved one thing for certain, she hated the Jedi. And hated was putting it mildly.  
If Daala ever learned Vestara had lived with the Skywalker family, or even dated one of them, she would likely try to bring harm to her simply out of some twisted misbegotten sense of catharsis, as if through hurting her she was hurting them, and Daala came off as the kind of person who didn't care if it was direct or not she wished to wound her foes in whatever way she could. Among the things she had learned in her travels it was that those with grand ambitions ultimately cared little what they had to crush underneath to succeed, and so to this end Vestara remained out of sight until Mirta collected her that they might return to their ship.

When their stay on Nar Shaada came to an end Mirta simply came and beseech-ed Vestara accompany her to the spaceport that they may leave. Vestara had noted she had lost all of her newfound luster, likely a result of Vestara's suspicions of Daala and her future ambitions, but made no inquiries and Mirta herself remained silent the entire trip to the Kandosii all the way to their shared quarters only breaking her silence to convey the news of their mission to the rest of the crew.  
They were somewhere around halfway to Coruscant when Mirta finally spoke what was on her mind, she was brief and to the point simply stating that while she hadn't spoken to Fett on the matter she had conferred with Daala, and more or less confirmed Vestara's suspicion, Natasi Daala intended to use the Mando'ade to re-install herself as Head of State. Mirta had already made it quite clear such a scenario bothered her and to this end it mean she was now seeking a cure for her world so she could help instigate a war. In laymens terms, she was pissed.

And so now Vestara simply waited, the Kandosii had arrived on Coruscant with no visible difficulty, Mirta's military position gave them clearance to dock close to the Senate archives, and she headed out to review whatever records they possessed. Despite having been told that the Jedi had vacated Coruscant Vestara remained behind in the event that she was actually at large on this particular planet. And so she had nothing to do but wait, wait and ponder recent events. Most notably what occupied her thoughts was Venku's statement that he knew someone who could 'help' her, whatever that meant. She imagined that given what they were talking about that he meant he knew someone who could help her become a Jedi, or at least help her figure out how to become one on her own.  
But did she still want that?  
This was the question that gave her pause, she had wanted this once but did she still?  
She remembered asking Ben with such hope, she remembered having to work hard to show Luke she meant it, that it wasn't some ploy. She remembered wanting it more than anything.  
Well, almost anything. Though brief she did enjoy her relationship with Ben.  
If she could ,would she return to that life?  
Maybe his friend could help her answer that question first.

Before she could get to involved in these thought the door to the room opened suddenly. Vestara fully expected to see Mirta either joyous at her success or incensed at her failure. But instead in the doorway stood one of the many other Mando whom lived aboard the Kandosii with them, this one Vestara did not personally know, it was a woman a few inches taller than Vestara herself with very short black hair what barely went past her ears wearing a full set of bronze Mandalorian armor.  
"Mirta needs you to meet her at the Senate archives."  
This confused her greatly as they had already agreed she wouldn't leave the ship while they visited this particular world. "She asked for me? By name?" The Mandalorian woman simply nodded."Why?"  
"I don't know, I don't care. She just said she needs YOUR help. Word to the wise do not leave her waiting."  
After she left Vestara quickly changed into more casual and inconspicuous clothing figuring her usual attire as well as her Mando gear might draw alot of unwanted attention and the more normal she looked the less likely she was to be recognized. Fortunately the spaceport they had landed in was close enough to walk to where Mirta needed her, for whatever reason it made her feel comfortable to know she didn't need to acquire any sort of public transportation. She was still heavily unfamiliar with how many things operated in the galaxy and didn't want to risk getting in a cab where the driver might have access to a bulletin showing she was wanted, if she actually was. During her walk she used a data-pad to map the route between the archives and the port they were docked at and made her best efforts to memorize this route.  
When she reached the archives she immediately took notice of Mirta standing outside on the large steps leading into the building itself looking rather impatient and miffed.  
"What exactly was so important that you needed me to come here? Not anyone else, but the one person who probably shouldn't wandering around here?"  
Mirta descended down the stairs towards her letting out a series of small impatient huffs. "I've been denied all access to the archives."  
"What?Why?"  
"Take a guess ,honestly stop, think, and guess."  
After a brief moment Vestara pondered what could have possibly happened that would result in this outcome but nothing came to mind, save for one thing. "Daala?"  
"Daala."  
"Okay, I'll bite. How?"  
"While my grandfather technically did break her out of prison, he did so in disguise so no one would know it was him. He had someone else wear his armor and pilot his ship so there would be a witness account of him being elsewhere. But 'Fett' was still spotted at the prison, while an 'unknown Mando'ade' broke Daala out of prison. Daala has her share of political enemies and they don't believe in coincidences, they've opened an investigation into the possibility of collusion between the two."  
"You know technically he did break her out. And if I may, that might have been quite foolish of him. I mean he's supposed to be the leader of your people, jailbreaks seem a bit...beneath him, wouldn't you say?"  
"Unfortunately Grandfather still thinks like a bounty hunter. He only broke her out because she paid him an obscene amount to do so. But in the meantime I'm barred from accessing any of the Senates Historical archives, or anything that would be helpful for that matter."  
"You can't go anywhere?"  
"Given the fact that the leader of our people is under investigation, all privileges have been restricted to all other representatives of Mandalore. My grandfather could come here and fill out requisition's to view the archives himself but I myself can't do anything."  
Vestara was now rolling her eyes around pondering all this "I'm no politician, but I'm pretty sure they can't do that."  
"Like I said, Daala made enemies in the Senate. And her use of Mando'ade to strong-arm everyone into playing by her rules already has us under great scrutiny, they suspect he helped her and are throwing a childish fit. Now I'm certain this investigation will blow over and everything will eventually go back to normal, but I don't have that kind of time."  
"Why do I suspect this is where you get to why I'm here?"  
"You are going to walk us right in there."  
It didn't take long for Vestara to connect the dots as to where this was going."You want me, a known Sith to walk into the Senate archives and compel someone to give us access?!" Mirta simply gave a mischievous nod. "I'd ask if you were crazy but you've answer that question tenfold in the past. First that I know is for a fact illegal, and aren't we trying to keep attention off of me?"  
"We will be accessing historical records, nothing that could be used to harm anyone. Even if they do find out what are they going to do, lock us up for reading a history log? We won't be looking at anything sensitive or classified and if we find what we're looking for then we will be vindicated in our questionable behavior."  
"You mean if we find what we're looking for you will go home where your safe and I will be on my own when the authorities come knocking?"  
"Oh for the love of...look, I assure you,no I promise you this won't come back to haunt you. Just get us in."  
It dawned on Vestara that Mirta wasn't going to budge on this, she was set on using her to get in. Vestara had learned that as far as the situation with Mandalore went Mirta and her extended family didn't hold anything back when it came to finding answers, and the building she wanted to get into may very well hold all the answers she had long sought.  
"Fine, fine. Let's go. I think we can agree this is me going above and beyond."

The first room they entered into was a large hall ,not unlike the one Vestara had seen within the Jedi temple, filled with numerous shelves lined with countless luminous slots where some particular item was stored, facing the entrance was a fairly wide desk behind which sat an elderly human male who greeted them simultaneously with a smile and a look of confusion.  
As they approached Vestara quickly leaned forward to whisper something to Mirta "Just so you know this doesn't work on everybody."  
"I'm sure it will work on what is essentially a library receptionist."  
By this point they were now at the front desk and Vestara began peering around to ensure noone was watching to closely while the man behind the desk greeted them. "Hello again Miss Gev."  
"Misses, I'm married."  
"Sorry, but I wasn't expecting to see you again quite so soon, as I explained before unfortunately your access to the Senate records has been denied, I don't have any control over that."  
Vestara having now determined it to be safe turned to face the elderly receptionist and waved her hand slightly, trying not to be too obvious. "It shouldn't be a problem if I accessed the records though, right?"  
Almost immediately the elderly man's face slowly turned blank and emotionless, and after a very brief pause he answered in a completely monotone voice. "No ma'am, it's no problem at all."  
Vestara brought her arm back around very nonchalantly as though she were simply crossing her arms. "And I'm sure it wouldn't bother anyone if I brought a friend in with me to help me find what I'm looking for, right?" Gesturing towards Mirta.  
"No, no bother at all."  
"In fact, I won't be here long, so there's no real need to make a log, or tell anyone I stopped by. After all why go through all the effort when I just came to do a little reading?"  
The old man nodded slightly in agreement. "You're absolutely right, no need at all."  
Mirta turned rather questionably towards Vestara. "Don't you think that's pushing it?"  
"When this wears off he likely won't remember anything, if a record exists of us being here, but the person who gave us access doesn't even remember us someone will get suspicious. Now while this guy is in a giving mood, what records did you want to examine."  
"The virus was first used by the Separatists during the clone wars, so I'd like to look at that. And it was employed again shortly after the Empire was founded, that's around the time Skirata developed a cure so that's my main focus. But these would be military records."  
"Okay" Looking over at the old man, still under her compulsion. "Can we access the military records from the Clone wars as well as the the first few years of the Empires regime?"  
"Certainly, but I'm afraid those records are stored in separate locations within the archives."  
Vestara and Mirta both glanced at each other clearly confused as they had expected they could simply view every bit of information they were looking for from a single point. "Why are the records separate?"  
"The records, historical or otherwise, for the period near the end of the Old republic and the founding of the Galactic Empire are incomplete. Many records were lost during the transition to the Empire, and again during the foundation of the New Republic. Because the records are incomplete they are stored separate from public records."  
Mirta was now rubbing her temples impatiently. "In other words the Empire probably redacted most of the records so there wouldn't exist some official statement that would contradict the false history they invented to make themselves look like the good guys. Alright I'll review the Imperial records you look through the Old republic files."  
"And look for what exactly? I don't know anything about this virus by heart, I don't know what key words or phrases I should look out for."  
"It was developed and confiscated during the first year of the Clone Wars, just check around that time-frame."

At Vestara's behest the elderly man led them to where they each needed to be, first guiding Mirta to a column filled with data-stacks containing various files from the Empires earliest years. Then leading Vestara through the building to a small secluded terminal where the Old Republic files were stored, perpetrate from all other public records. Waving her hand again she directed her host to access the terminal and bypass whatever safeguards might prevent her from viewing the appropriate files. Before Vestara began her search she turned to the man and waved her hand once more. "That is all I need, you may return to the front. Also, forget you ever saw us here today. This little encounter never took place." With a simple nod and a blank stare the man left to return to the front desk leaving Vestara to search in private.  
At Mirta's suggestion she focused her search on the first year of the Clone Wars but much to her chagrin the files had in fact, true to Mirta's prediction been redacted, as she searched through numerous records of battles and military operations carried out across numerous worlds she found little she could actually read. The majority of the files were either simply missing or in fact corrupted as if someone in the past had attempted to wipe them completely. Vestara continued to search hoping she would happen upon a file somewhere that hadn't been altered but to avail, while she learned little about her actual objective Vestara saw more and more of what a Sith ruled Galaxy actually looked like and was beginning to feel more vindicated in her questioning the Sith altogether. As she continued what she felt might have ultimately been a fruitless search, she hoped Mirta herself was having better luck, for if the data they had been looking for had been stored in the Old Republic files, it had long been purged.

Mirta herself sorted through numerous Data-stacks ranging from the Clone Wars itself through the first decade of the Empires rule. The Imperial records of what took place within the Clone Wars was quite colorful, numerous false accounts of the Jedi using Clone Troopers to aid in carrying out terrorist activities which ultimately was used to justify the slaughter of the entire order itself. Mirta held no particular love for the Jedi as a whole, but even she knew the stories she read were blatant fallacies.  
"If the entire galaxy bought this, they deserved to get kriffed over by the Empire."  
As she continued to search she spotted a document claiming the Clone Wars had been instigated by the Jedi themselves as part of a rebellion to overthrow the Republic and the chancellor himself, but what caught her attention was a reference the article made to how the Jedi's actions resulted in the death of her Great-grandfather Jango Fett the Man'dalore of that time, a position now held by his own son Boba. The article had a picture of Jango ,wearing the same armor Boba would eventually repaint and don himself, and while he and Boba were physically identical she noticed subtle differences in how they groomed themselves,also her grandfathers complexion was just ever so slightly paler than his likely a result of his wearing his armor constantly. In the same photo she saw a young Boba standing close to his father, for a moment she forgot her objective and stared at the image in an act of Nostalgia she tried to see if she could discern any resemblance between her Grandfather and her Mother Ailyn, but did not see as much figuring that Ailyn took after her own mother Sintas. In spite of the importance of their mission Mirta allowed herself to be distracted by the images the files contained of Jango and her Grandfather, she felt somewhat two-sided about how the files portrayed Jango, on the one hand he was a good father so she heard and he definately shouldn't have died that day and left Boba all alone, but on the other he was the current leader of Mandalore and he did sell his services to the Sith simply out of personal gain. Mirta now felt that her own grandfather might be selling his services out to another with similar ambitions, and was in turn recklessly endangering himself and his people, to which she realized he did seem to take after his father in that regard. In reality the only way she could see Jango actually benefited from his arrangement with the Sith was the birth of his own son, which in turn led to her own existence.

The time began to get away from her as she realized she was so caught up in reminiscence she quickly took down the article relating to her Great-grandfather and began fervently searching through the remaining files. But much to her annoyance all public records from the Empires early years were laden with outrageous falsehoods and propaganda labeling anyone ,not just the Jedi, but anyone who openly disagreed with the Empire as some sort of terrorist, or violent anarchist, or some sympathizer of the Jedi. She even found quite a few article slandering her own people when they refused to bow to and obey the Empire, to which it became more and more apparent that this trip was likely for naught and she had exposed Vestara needlessly.  
Eventually she did find reference to something that sounded similar to the Empire's use of the nano-killer.  
"Okay, we might be getting somewhere."  
Despite her renewed optimism Mirta's hopes weren't realized, though she became confident the more she read that the files were in fact referring to the Virus she was looking for, none of the files told any true or accurate account of the events. In fact the files seemed to indicate the Empire had blamed these attacks on the Mando'ade themselves, making reference that they themselves weren't harmed in these attacks.  
"SON OF A-" Mirta quickly stopped and recomposed herself remembering she was in a very public place. "It seems I have underestimated the depravity of the former Emperor."  
It now had set in the Empire never studied the cure as they had hoped, their theory being the Empire would possess data on the cure so they could develop a means of counteracting it and continue to use the virus itself. But in reality it seemed they used the Mando'ade's possession of the cure to make the Mando'ade look complicit and sway blame away from the Empire itself.  
"Those sorry self-serving..."  
Mirta suddenly paused when her eye caught something, or rather someone, in the background. Thought she could not tell who it was she was looking at she could see the person was wearing a very familiar type of robe.  
"What's a Jedi doing here?" Quickly grabbing a comm she brought with her she tried to call the frequency of Vestara's own personal comm, hoping she had seen fit to bring hers.  
" _What is it?_ "  
"Good you brought it. You need to leave, I believe there are Jedi here in the archives."  
" _...Are you kidding me?! What are they doing here? YOU said they left!_ "  
"They likely stored a great deal of information here in the Senates archives, the Jedi and the New Republic have worked together since their 's probably just business and has nothing to do with you. But to be sure you should leave and get back to the ship as fast as you can. I'll meet you there."  
" _Just like to say for the record, I said I shouldn't come here._ "  
"Oh, shut up. By the way, did you find anything?"  
" _No, you_?"  
"No, looks like this was a waste of time. Now get out of here."

Vestara took little time leaving the Archives, ducking past crowds and avoiding sight of any security cameras she saw. In the instance someone saw her she simply compelled them to look the other way and forget they saw her. When she finally exited the Senate Archives she turned back to face the building itself, watching the doors as she backed away until she was certain no one was coming out after her.  
She began to hasten her steps as she slowly turned towards the direction of the Spaceport, but as she turned the corner, not fully watching where she was going, she clumsily found herself nearly running face first into someone.  
"Oh! I'm terribly so..."  
Vestara stopped dead in the middle of her sentence as she suddenly realized, through some twist of fate, that she was staring into a pair of very familiar sky blue eyes. She realized she knew the person she almost collided with.  
She realized she was now standing face to face with Ben Skywalker.  
And this time, she knew she was awake.

 **A/N** **Another chapter, I'm that much closer to actually being in the part of the story i want to be!  
Also I kinda tossed this one together and sort of half-assed it, I noticed if I tried to stretch it out it would wind up as more than one chapter and I didn't want to spend two chapters covering a very small portion.**


	25. Chapter 25

Both Vestara and Ben stared utterly transfixed upon each other, as if trying to comprehend the fact that they were staring at one another. Both blank yet confused they were both at a loss for words and unable to respond.  
Of all the Jedi, of all the people on this planet, of all the millions, billions, if not trillions of people she could have encountered in this place she ran literally face first into the person she is most unprepared to face at this moment. She sat trying to figure out all the possible convergences that could have led to this moment, how it was they were at the same place at the same moment.  
She had been informed by Mirta that the Jedi had left Coruscant, she had been informed that the Skywalker family no longer held any direct political ties to the Senate or the Republic, she could not fathom what he was doing here.  
Slowly but surely it began to dawn on her that Ben was likely not alone, while he might not have someone with him at that moment there may very well be more Jedi with him, and she was certain that if that were the case she was likely to run into one she had in some way offended in the past.  
Not fully ready to face the numerous possible scenarios going through her mind, none of which were pleasant, Vestara slowly began to drag her foot to the side so as to prepare herself to flee. As her foot shifted her boot drug across the ground creating the slightest of noises, minor but enough to pull Ben out of his trance.  
"VES?!" He did not seem to pleased to see her.  
At the sound of his voice Vestara immediately began to panic and took off running, fleeing from Skywalker with such haste she didn't realize she wasn't even paying attention to where she was heading. Franticlly speeding through nearby crowds Vestara was consumed by one single thought, to evade Skywalker. As her mind steadily began to calm from the initial panic she realized she could still very much feel Ben's presence nearby ,as she was now aware of it, and it was steadily growing closer.  
She was running, and Ben was chasing.  
The sudden realization of this only made her panic further, their last encounter had been violent and nothing had happened to her knowledge to fix the situation, now immersed in fear of what he would do,how he would react to her, she hastened her steps fleeing further from her destination verily unaware of where she was headed.  
Crowds of people of various races flew past her in a blur as she ran past them, and the overwhelming tumult Coruscant typically emitted began to turn to white noise around her, soon all she heard was the stomping of Ben's boots as he followed behind, all she heard was herself and her pursuer.  
Vestara cursed herself at her terror as she fled, hating herself for being so frightened and unable to face him, hating that she made so much uncertain. When once she was certain they would be happy to see one another , she had tried him and his family, tried their patience with her so many times she now honestly wasn't sure as she figured even Ben's father Luke had to have a limit to his patience.  
Continuing to cut through the numerous crowds, turning each corner and intersection that she passed, and trying to avoid colliding with any large incoming objects and transports that came her way, ultimately it set in she was not heading for the spaceport where the Kandosii had docked. Her best hope to avoid an unnecessary confrontation would be to make her way back to the ship with the Mando'ade aboard, it was unpleasant the thought of using them to avoid this particular matter but she saw little alternative.  
As she continued her flee she looked around to see if there was any structures she recognized to lead her back to the spaceport, she had memorized multiple paths back in the event that her initial route was somehow compromised, like being chased through the city by her livid ex-boyfriend. After a brief moment she spotted something that looked familiar, and to her relief she realized she wasn't too far off course and began to ease her way back onto the appropriate path.  
" _Upon retrospect, if I ever want to plead my case to him, running like I saw a rancor probably wasn't the best choice._ "

Though unsure of whether she was simply fleeing from him or actually leading him somewhere Ben kept to his pursuit. He was more than surprised to see her here of all places, in fact surprised didn't even scratch the surface. He tried to comprehend the reason's she would be on Coruscant, specifically the reason's she would be at the Senate archives, but nothing immediately came to mind. Any reason,purpose or scenario he could come up with was unpleasant to consider but he decided to save these thought until he learned how she got here, with whom she came with.  
Ben easily noticed in her haste she didn't seem to have a clear destination, she was simply running, fleeing from him. He guessed her fear of him stemmed from their most recent encounter, when he found her working for the Qrepths, and he in anger attempted to violently apprehend her. Now just like then she was fleeing, though now she did not fight back she simply retreated and this confused him, Vestara was known to flee if the situation called for it, if she had a trap or machination in place but never one to simply run out of shear terror.  
Ben recalled how in his first meeting with her she had actually injured his father, he injured her right back, but it always surprised him that she was able to even harm his father whom he considered the most powerful Jedi. Vestara had always displayed a ferocity in combat and a capacity to wade through great pains when in conflict, he'd seen her continue through being struck by lightning, being stabbed multiple times while suspended in the air, and both he and her together fought Abeloth after being deprived food and water for three days, she had displayed an enduring tenacity and bravado, for this reason her behavior confused him.  
Before he could become too immersed in his current train of thought it occurred to him she now seemed to have corrected, to have directed her path towards something.  
" _Where are you going_?"  
While keeping pace with her he eased his pursuit so that he could keep up with her, keep her in sight but not catch her so that he could find who was with her.  
" _You can't be alone. You rarely are._ "  
The chase continued for close to half an hour, the remainder of which Ben entertained himself with the thought of the scene they must be making, she was running from him as fast as she could, while he chased. He considered all of the tawdry ways this event could be misconstrued by the people around them, all the various scenarios the passerby's could invent and began to laugh at all of this.

The pursuit finally concluded full circle, back at the spaceport near the spot the two had first encountered each Ben still following near behind Vestara hurried through the main lobby to a corridor that would lead straight into the hangar the kandosii was docked in.  
" _Almost there._ "  
Much to her dismay however as she came upon the door at the end of the hall it would not open. Repeatedly and frantically she tapped the buttons on the keypad next to it, but simply received a prompt signaling that a ship was either docking or disembarking from the hangar. During her last visit to Coruscant she learned that as a security protocol the entrances to the hangar bays of the spaceport's would lock while a ship was leaving or entering, and could not be opened until such time that it had completed this act.  
This fact had actually gotten her in trouble as she had fled from a group of Sith towards such a location while the Millennium Falcon was docking. The fact that it was docking, as well as the fact that **THAT** very ship itself was docking led to a regrettable chain of events.  
Within the midst of her frantically tapping the keypad she became aware of the the approaching sound of heavy foot steps and heavy breathing, alerting her that Ben had caught up and she was cornered. As she turned to face him the first thing she became aware of his right hand, which tightly clutched his lightsaber, though not active he held it at the ready.  
From his saber she turned her gaze up to his face, he was panting heavily and sweating profusely from pursuing her through the streets and crowds surrounding the Senate buildings, his expression could only be described as highly unamused.  
Vestara herself looked around at herself, the locked door behind her, and an individual most displeased with her with a weapon at the ready, realizing the familiarity of the situation as a whole she began to laugh.  
"It's quite hard to ignore the irony of all of this." Ben's expression remained stern and unchanging. "This is the exact situation I found myself in when the Sith were here. Me, a locked door, and an unhappy party with a blade at the ready."  
"So this is what happened that day? That's what your telling me, that you got cornered?"  
"Do you honestly think I would attack your family of my own will? I would endanger a child, your niece, intentionally?"  
" **YES**! Yes I do!" Vestara's head sank in response to this direct and prompt answer. "You have on numerous occasions given me little reason to think otherwise. I'm sure, like always you have some other explanation for what happened that day, but what reason do I have to believe you. You've always been so good at making up stories as far as your loyalties are concerned, what reason do I have to believe anything you say?"  
"Because I didn't hurt any of them when I had the chance. I saw your aunt, your uncle and your niece and I had been ordered to kill them. I had an opening to kill them, I could have complied and won myself into the Sith's good graces, instead I threw the bomb at their Ship. A large ship that couldn't possibly be destroyed by a single detonator."  
Ben stopped and considered this, he had watched the footage of Vestara throwing the thermal detonator at the Falcon, and he could actually see his family in the video,it was true they were in view. "So you claim you deliberately missed?"  
"YES! Surely there were cameras, watch the footage, I couldn't have made the throw without guiding it through the Force. If I could see them why would I bother ensuring the bomb hit a specific location away from them?"  
For a moment Ben allowed himself to begin to hope that whatever bad blood existed between them was merely the result of a grave misunderstanding born of a horrid and dire situation, but there was still more to settle. "That all may perhaps be true, but what about Allana herself, when you told the Sith who she was!?"  
"I already said before..."  
"No, you didn't! Tell me what actually happened, how did you even learn who Allana was?"  
"What happened? What happened is I killed Taalon so he wouldn't become just like Abeloth, and then I killed my father." Ben's expression softened towards her as he knew quite well that wasn't easy on her. "And they, the Sith, knew exactly what I had done and wanted me dead. When they invaded Coruscant they came after me in great numbers intent on making that a reality, I lost count of how many I had to cut down to stay alive but eventually I was outnumbered. So I did what I do best, I ran." Without looking at it Vestara began to tap on the nearby keypad. "But when I reached a door just like this one, your aunt and uncle were docking the Millennium Falcon so the door locked and stayed that way until docking was finished. So I was cornered, and tried to make excuses to spare myself from them but they didn't buy any of it, so I had to think of something, something to save myself, and it just came out."  
"'It just came out'? That's what you have to say?"  
"Think of me what you will, but I've never knowingly harmed a child and you and I were together at the time, I had no intention of harming your family anymore."  
Ben finally relaxed enough to holster his saber "Everything you've said could very well be true, or it could all be more lies, how am I supposed to know, how could you convince me of the former?"  
"Abeloth."  
"Come again?"  
"The Sith were serving Abeloth, when I helped you kill that thing, or at least that body, I betrayed them, I may as well have killed a Sith Lord. But I stayed and helped you fight a literal monster that terrified me, that...thing scared me. But I stayed and fought after that same monster deprived us of food and water for THREE DAYS! Why would I put myself through all of that if I was serving them!"  
As much as he hated to admit it, that actually made sense to Ben.  
While Ben stood in an awkward silence Vestara leaned back against the door and crossed her arms.  
"I did try though. To be a Jedi that is. I did try. But honestly when I think about it every time I was faced with a challenge I faced it as a Sith would. But let's not kid ourselves as much as I wanted it, there was too big a difference between what I wanted and what I knew.  
For that matter would you and I have really worked out?" To this Ben's head shot up and and he stared curiously. "You and I come from two different worlds literally and figuratively, I was born Sith and your a Jedi, how would we not have inevitably found ourselves at opposite ends?"  
Hearing this his eyes widened. "Well you clearly know nothing about MY family! So let me tell you a few things. My cousin Jacen you know about. So let's start with my Grandfather, the personal apprentice of the Sith lord Palapatine!"  
" _Oh, sweet force not that maniac._ "  
"My grandfather played absolutely no small part in the destruction of the previous Jedi order, then he went and tried to strangle his wife, WHILE she was pregnant with my dad and aunt Leia!  
Now you ever heard of planet Alderran?"  
Vestara rather hastily shook her head. "No."  
"And you never will, because he blew it up! Grandpa made an entire planet EXPLODE, everyone on it included! Then he went and froze my uncle in corbanite and had Boba Fett sell him to a crime lord!"  
" _Mirta didn't mention that._ "  
"Now what he did to his own son, my father! My father was raised by his Aunt and Uncle, up until Grandpa had them killed and lets their BURNT, FLESHLESS CORPSES on the doorstep for dad to find when he got home! And we can't EVER forget the time he chopped off daddy's right hand!" Vestara had been aware Luke had a prosthetic but never knew the cause, now that she knew she wasn't sure it she had wanted to know.  
"Now let's move on to my mother, she was never a Sith but before meeting my father she was Palpatines personal assassin, assigned to kill my dad even. And oh, did she try. She was considered by some to have been Palpatines very best assassin, you don't get that title without leaving a trail of bodies in your wake.  
Now, I love my mother, and I always will, but once upon a time she was not a good person. She did bad things for a bad person.  
And finally let's talk about me myself. Let's talk about what my cousin almost turned me into."  
A great sense of dread came over her, as she felt as though she really didn't want to hear what happened between Ben and his cousin.  
"I didn't open up to the force immediately when I was young, some things happened and I was too scared to open up to it, ironic when both your parents sit on the Jedi council. Somehow my cousin helped my get through it, and in a sense became my unofficial Jedi master. Jacen was like a brother to me, and when he fell to the Dark side, when he became a Sith he exploited all of this. He used my undying faith in him to convince me to turn on my own family, to in some cases even try to harm members of my own family. I killed someone simply because he said so, every time he told me to do something I did it because he made me think everything he said and did was right! He once sent me on a simple mission to retrieve something, what isn't important, but when I found what he wanted me to retrieve I went to leave immediately."  
"What's so bad about that?"  
"Because heading home meant ignoring a small defenseless child whose only parent had just died. I was starting to head home when I looked at a photo of my parents, and realized they would think the worst of me for knowingly letting a small child die! Not that I should have had to think about that in the first place! So I went back and got my X-wing destroyed in the process, and the little girl and I were stranded with no food. Now comes the part of the story where I first met our mutual acquaintance Ship, wanna hear how that went!?"  
" _I really don't!_ " Vestara was well aware of how influential Ship could be on his own, she hated to fathom what distress he might have caused Ben in the past, but before she could stop him Ben continued.  
"When I first met Ship he didn't immediately offer me a ride off world, he didn't open up with a gesture of good faith to the first Force-sensitive he'd encountered in who-knows-how-long. No Ship looked at me and saw that I was on the verge of starvation, so he told me to kill and eat the child I was protecting! That was his solution, cannibalism. And you wanna know what?!"  
Vestara cringed as he paused, fearful and horrified of how horrid his past might actually be, Ben noticed her distress and decided to placate her mind before continuing.  
"The child,as far as I am aware, is to this day still alive." Hearing this Vestara relaxed, if only slightly.  
"But for a moment I thought about Ships suggestion, and considered it a plausible solution. But then reminded myself killing and eating children is WRONG! I HAD TO REMIND MYSELF YOU DON'T EAT CHILDREN! I shouldn't have to remind myself that cannibalizing a little girl is WRONG! But that's what Jacen did, that's what he made me! A person who stop's and thinks about it! That is the kind of person I have to work at NOT being! That's who I have had to learn not to be, but some times pieces of that person bleed through and it bothers my father. I don't like being someone who occasionally scares my only parent!"  
It finally dawned on him that for the past while he had been shouting and it was unnerving Vestara greatly, and that in the end his attempt to make a point devolved into him simply venting his frustration. Massaging his throat which had gone sore he leaned back against a nearby wall, and with his other hand began rubbing the bride of his nose. "Well, what a pair we make. Seem's both of us aren't pleased with how we turned out."  
Ben continued to simply sit where he stood burying his face in his hands trying to recompose himself, aware that none of what he spoke of was comfortable to talk about Vestara gathered herself and began to approach him to try and give him some sort of comfort but before she reached him his head shot up and he stared at her cautiously. "Why are you even here?"  
Vestara herself suddenly realized Ben had yet to get to that point, much to her surprise. "I'm not here as or for the Sith."  
"Why are you here?"  
"I am helping a...friend. That's all." Ben's unyielding gaze told her this was an insufficient answer and he would ask again if she did not divulge more. "I'm trying to help Mirta Gev go home."  
Hearing Mirta's name Ben shot up straight and drew close to her, momentarily startling her "Mirta?"  
"Yes. We thought we might find a cure for the Nano-killer over Mandalore in the Senate archives."  
Ben was now more than a little confused and tilted his head while raising his eyebrow. "And HOW did you come to that conclusion?"  
"We believe the virus was originally manufactured during the Clone Wars Jacen just recycled it, and that a cure was already made. We just need to find it, and the archives was a plausible place to look."  
Ben thought about this, everything she said could be verified, and if it was real, if a cure already existed while it was good for Mirta and all others affected by the virus. And yet it made him feel bad that he and his own family hadn't handled this already given they did hold some responsibility.  
"Tell me, what do you get from this arrangement, helping Mirta?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"I've never know you to help someone unless you had something to gain in the process, what do you gain from helping Mirta?"  
"Is it really so hard to believe I'm just helping a friend?" Ben gave no answer, but she understood this was an affirmation in and of itself. "Fine, the Qrepth's blew out my knee and ankle. Mirta got me proper medical treatment, so I'm paying her back. In the mean time I get a place to lay my head that doesn't involve Ship."  
"I thought you and Ship were friends."  
"You thought wrong. He's demanding and controlling. Not very conducive to someone figuring things out. I need to pick my own path."  
Ben stared for a moment at her uncertain if she was telling the truth or not, she had told him so many fallacies in the past he couldn't tell. It had occurred to him not once had she mentioned the Sith itself, and only referred to her self as such in the past tense, something that gave him the slightest bit of hope. He continued to think while beginning to stare very deeply at her dark brown eyes. "What is it you want?"  
"Beg pardon?"  
"In life, Ves. Where are you going, what are you trying to accomplish." Ben started to step forward until he was directly in front of her, making direct eye contact. "What do you want?"  
Vestara herself could now feel his breath on her skin, which made her both nervous and anxious. Vestara opened her mouth to try and answer his question but was unable to make any words emerge, and for a moment they simply stared back and forth at one another, that is until the door behind Vestara suddenly opened.  
Both turned to see who was standing in the door way only to be met with a small flash of light and the howl of a blaster as a bolt from a baster flew by and struck Ben right in his shoulder, causing him to fall to the ground. Vestara herself turned to see who fired only to see none other than Mirta. "Cockblock! C'mon let's go."  
"Mirta!" Taking one quick glance to ensure Ben was fine, but saw no discernible wound. "WHAT THE HELL?!"  
"Relax, I didn't kill you boyfriend he's stunned, now let's go."  
Tightly grabbing onto Vestara's arm Mirta pulled her through the doorway, during which Vestara turned back to Ben and mouthed an apology to him before Mirta pulled her completely away.  
The two ran though the hangar bay until they reached the Kandosii which both wasn't that far from where Ben and Vestara were and was alrady prepped to launch. While clamoring aboard Vestara noticed Ben running though the hangar after them, suggesting Mirta's attempt to stun him was only partly successful. But the ship began to take off before he reached it, and Vestara watched from a window within the Kandosii as Ben stood and watched the ship depart. It wasn't until Ben had completely faded from view and Vestara could not see him anymore that she finally uttered the answer to his question that she couldn't speak before.  
"I want you."

 **A/N** **OH MY GOODNESS! This chapter turned out much longer than I thought it would, I think in terms of word count it's the longest yet.  
BTW, everything Ben said in this chapter did happen, Ben has issues. I don** **'t think that's brought up enough.**


	26. Chapter 26

-Coruscant-

Ben stood silent watching the Kandosii depart and slowly head upwards to leave the planet itself, he knew any attempt to stop them would be futile, by the time he was able to alert anyone who COULD stop them they would already be gone. And he knew how well Mandalorian's were at evading people. To this he resigned himself to the fact that Vestara had gotten away and disappeared as suddenly as she had arrived. But the detail that still bothered him was why she was there to begin with, she had claimed to be helping Mirta, and he ran into her outside the Senate archives building. The Jedi (save for the Barabel Jedi), as well as Allana, had vacated Coruscant, and the entire government was on alert due to the Sith infiltrating the Sentate with Abeloth, he could not fathom any potential reason she would ever risk coming here, so perhaps she was here at the behest of a friend.  
Deciding not to waste anymore time Ben reached into his pocket and removed his comm, promptly activating , and after a moment he was greeted by a deep,growling voice. "Yessss?"  
"Hello, Saba. I need a favor, might be a big one."  
"What iz it?"  
"I need to know if you can make the necessary arrangements for me to review the security footage from the Senate archives."  
"...This iz a specific request. Might this one inquire why?"  
"I think that I might have, and I stress might have, seen a Sith leaving the archives."  
"SITH?!"  
"Calm down, I said MIGHT have. I just need to make sure. If I'm wrong I'll probably have just wasted a couple of people's time, I just wish to make certain before anyone does anything."  
"...This one can try to fulfill thisss request. But before, how certain are you?"  
"I'm not, again just want to be certain. Better safe than sorry, right?"  
"Very well."  
Ending the call Ben simply tucked the Comm back in his pocket as he headed out of the Hangar bay, when he finally reached the door he had come through he waited for a moment for the door to automatically open for a brief moment before tapping the keypad, yet ironically received the same notice Vestara had received. Another vessel was now docking where the Kandosii had departed and the door was now locked, when the ship was fully docked and opened for it's passengers to disembark the door in front of him unlocked and opened for him.  
"Huh, they do lock." A thought came to mind from this prompting him to retrieve his comm once more. "Saba, I have a question."

-The Kandosii-

Vestara retreated back to her and Mirta's shared quarters to find Mirta already waiting for her.  
"So, that went well."  
"Well? We found nothing and I was spotted by not only a Jedi but one of the ones I was specifically avoiding. What was he even doing there? You said they left!"  
"About that, I might have been slightly misinformed. Yes, the Jedi were asked to vacate Coruscant, but not all of them did. The Barabel members of the Order remained, I have no idea why. But there is still a Jedi presence on Coruscant. If I had to guess Ben was simply there to assist them through the transition or whatnot."  
"Well whatever the reason he saw me, exiting a Government building. And now he knows I'm traveling with you. For the time being he, THEY, know how to find me should they see fit."  
"That would require THEM finding ME! Good luck with that."  
Vestara smirked at this remark while preparing herself for bed. "By the way, you didn't say much on the subject of Daala before we came."  
Hearing Daala's name made Mirta begin rubbing her temples. "There wasn't much to say, we talked. She didn't outright confirm your suspicions about her, but I've known her long enough to hear what she isn't saying and I believe you were correct."  
"You mentioned you didn't speak to your grandfather about it, may I ask why?"  
"I don't know if he has any involvement in her craziness, and we have more important things to focus on. I'll discuss it with him when I have the time but for now I'm going to focus on this, going home."  
Vestara having finished readying herself made her way into her bed. "Well then, on that particular note since Coruscant didn't pan out, what's next?"  
"We'll have to wait and see if Daala finds anything of value through her contacts, otherwise we have a list of Outpost's to visit."  
"And where exactly do I fit into that? I doubt I would fool actual Mandalorian's, or that they would willingly try to conceal anything from you."  
"It's been brought to my attention you should probably stay put in that event. You most certainly wouldn't blend in, and it might be easier to simply replicate or extricate whatever files, if any, Kal might have left at any outpost he was stationed and sort through them here on the ship. I can't trust that someone might not try to stop us."  
Vestara rose her brow while she continued to make herself comfortable. "I fail to understand why anyone would try and stop you."  
"You've heard how thing's aren't going so well back on Mandalore itself, yes?" She responded with a simple nod. "Well part of that is that there currently exists a movement to have my Grandfather step down as Mand'alore on the argument that if he can't physically set foot on Mandalore, he shouldn't be the leader of it. In some cases they might actually have a point, circumstances present are not ideal, but another part of it is simple political opposition I dare you to find any leader on any world that wasn't opposed politically. It's not so much a matter of wanting what's best as it is people trying to get what they want, however the spineless cowards are only brave enough to act when he isn't around to do anything."  
"So not everyone's playing nice. Is there anyone you can trust?" Vestara ended her remark with a hearty chuckle. "So how long till we rendezvous with Fett?"  
"We already have a place set to meet, we're headed their now. Just a matter of hours."  
"And will my presence be required?"  
"...Why do you ask?"  
"If their end was unsuccessful, then you'll just be running all over to places it best I not go, to find a means to go somewhere else I have no business going myself. So I'm simply gauging my role,of any, in the upcoming days."  
"You should probably stay on the ship simply to keep you out of Daala's cross-hairs. As for your role in the coming days that will depend on where we go. Regardless of how much others feel it would be more prudent to leave you here, I don't know who will help me and who may try to stop me, or outright try to capture or kill me. As I said my grandfather is facing political opposition, I would make a valuable political prisoner. So if I don't know what to expect I plan and having something, someone, THEY won't expect."  
Vestara rolled over in amusement at hearing this. "So I'm the wild card in your pocket. I suppose I can live with that."

-Coruscant-

Ben Skywalker sat quietly within a security office within the Senate archives ,accompanied by a single guard whose duty was to ensure Ben himself didn't tamper with any footage. Ben's very allowance here was courtesy Saba's own diligence, while the Jedi no longer had any special privileges Saba's term as acting Grand Master of the Order, as well as a member of the triumvirate, has given her some standing with the Republic's current head of state.  
Ben examined the video carefully, watching when Mirta and Vestara came in, Ben had been told that Mirta had made a request to access the archives and was turned down due to an investigation pertaining to her Grandfather, so he could guess what Vestara's purpose was. As he continued watching his theory was proven as Vestara very subtly waved her hand and the receptionist who greeted them expression turned blank. From there they headed to one section of the archives where Mirta began combing through data-units, and Vestara was led to an isolated terminal away from the other records.  
Ben quickly motioned for the guard who had accompanied him to come over, pointing at the two screens showing Mirta and Vestara respectively when he did. "Is there any way to find out what files they accessed? Which ones specifically?"  
"Actually I believe there is." The guard began typing on the nearby terminal, sorting through numerous files on screen, all the while Ben stared rather nonchalantly over his shoulder to watch his every action. "Simply need to match the time..with the terminal's. And I believe this is it."  
Ben stared at the prompt displaying the files Mirta had examined, noticing they mostly pertained to the Clone Wars, most of which held articles mentioning Fett and his father. It was a matter of amusement to him seeing photo's of Fett as a child. Seeing him when there was still something that could be considered innocence within him. Ben now saw parallels within the lives of Fett and his descendants, Fett lost his father and became the galaxies most feared bounty hunter, his daughter Ailyn lost her mother and followed in that path. Ben wondered how fearsome she might have became had she lived, though in general Ben did not like thinking of Ailyn, lest he be brought back to that moment when he could hear Jacen brutally slam her head against a table until she was dead, he wasn't present but he heard it all well enough. Now Mirta was developing a fearsome reputation in the wake of her mothers death, almost as if the family itself was cursed.  
Ben quickly found himself needing to not think about that, normally he was fine but his recent conversation with Vestara had dug up many bad memories, so Ben turned his attention away from the files Mirta had examined to view the ones Vestara herself viewed to immediately find his attention placated. Almost immediately Ben found himself at a loss for words as multiple files displayed across the the computer screen, all vastly incomplete. The various files were all either heavily redacted to the point of not even being legible anymore, or simply corrupted in to the point that they couldn't be read at all, some files were listed but upon being opened were completely empty altogether.  
"This is ridiculous. What could she have been looking for?" After a moment longer of viewing the files Ben once again activated his personal comm. "Saba?"  
"Yesss?"  
"I've reviewed the security footage, and...I was mistaken. There was no Sith."  
"...Your certain."  
"Yes, please convey my apologies to everyone you had to speak to to get me in here, and if at all possible don't mention this incident to my father. I'll tell him myself."  
"...Very well."  
Ben could sense a tone of frustration in her voice, he personally didn't like lying to her, but at the moment he honestly wasn't sure how to label Vestara's intent on Coruscant. "This will be a fun conversation."

-The Kandosii-

The Kandosii had once again docked upon a world Vestara herself was unfamiliar with so Mirta could meet with Fett and Daala, all the while Vestara herself waited silently within their shared quarters. Eventually Vestara grew far too restless with her rampant thoughts and left, making her way towards the cargo bay to leave the ship entirely. As Vestara began readying a speeder to leave she felt a familiar presence approach and without even turning addressed them. "I'm just going out."  
"Out where?" The voice now confirmed she was being watched by Rook.  
"Just out, I'm tired of being cooped up in a small room on a ship of people who prefer I not be here, I need air. Besides it's not like I know of any places to go."  
While still perturbed Rook gave no objection, they had means of getting in contact with her if need be, and her general unfamiliarity with the various worlds they visited meant she would eventually have to return on her own. Upon exiting Vestara drove out away from the spaceport towards an empty field looking back every so often until she could barely see the spaceport and the settlement to which it was attached, looking around she saw nothing nearby. No people, no structures, nothing, she was alone in a vast expanse of nothingness, which at the moment is what he wanted.  
" _Okay, you can come down now._ "  
After a long, impatient pause Ship finally descended and landed in front of Vestara. " _Have you completed your objective with the Mandalorians?_ "  
"No, not yet."  
" _Then why have you summoned me_?"  
"Because I want you to do what you were made to. I want you to teach me."  
" _Very well Lady Khai, what is it you wish to learn, what do you wish to study?_ "  
"Sith. Sith lords to be exact."  
" _I do not understand._ "  
"I want to learn about Sith lords that came after Naga Shadow, ones worth mentioning. I'm not saying I want to know everything about them, just basics . My knowledge of the Sith order is largely impaired, I want to take this moment to fix that."  
" _...Very well, I will oblige this request. But you must understand the knowledge I possess upon this particular subject is limited._ "  
"Limited?"  
" _Ancient I may be, but the prolonged period of time I spent isolated on planet Zoist rendered me incapable of remaining ...up to date ,as you would put it. I have since updated my data-base but there are gaps, I shall inform of the few Sith lords I have been able to learn of myself._ "  
"Very well."  
After Vestara settled into Ship's cockpit and she appropriated herself into a meditative position a series of images of various people projected across the screen that made Ship's 'eye'. "Let's make something clear, I'm just here to learn a few thing's we aren't going anywhere!"  
" _Very well. There are many Sith Lords that followed Naga Shadow after your tribe was separated from his Sith Empire. The first being of notoriety being Exar Kun."_ At the mention of his name an image of an adult human male with long tied back black hair and a unusual symbol embedded upon his forehead centered itself among the others _. "After Naga Shadow was defeated and his Empire collapsed Kun rebuilt the Sith, during his tenure he began the cycle of cooperation between the Sith and the Mandalorian's_."  
" _So Mirta would hate this guy_."  
" _Exar Kun waged a rather bloody war against the republic and the Jedi that lasted for years until his own apprentice led the Jedi against him, in an act of desperation he made an attempt to seperate his spirit from his physical self and transcend the limitations of his physical body, while he succeeded he unintentionally trapped his spirit within a Sith temple upon Yavin 4 leaving him a threat to no one. Ultimately it was his own lack of self-control that was his undoing.._ "  
"Is he still there?"  
" _No, he was eventually discovered and destroyed by Jedi master Skywalker_." This came as little surprise to her. " _Despite his demise the Sith Empire survived and eventually came under the leadership of an unknown Emperor. Very little is known of him, allegedly he possessed the power to transfer his consciousness into another to prolong his life thus there are conflicting reports of what acts were performed by him. One act he can be credited with was the creation of Darth Revan and Darth Malek._ " A large image came into focus of two men. One completely concealed within a dark hooded cloak and wearing a mask that resembled a Mandalorian helmet, and the other a tall bald man with his mouth covered by some sort of cybernetic prosthesis  
" _For a time they both served as the twin Lords of the Sith and both were powerful and effective for they had previously been powerful Jedi, but the Sith Emperor was so powerful that he was able to simply convert them through sheer force of will,a feat no one else has been able to boast. But eventually Malek gave into greed and betrayed Revan, making the two enemies during their conflict Revan succumbed to his feelings for a woman, a Jedi and forsook the dark side to be with her. After killing Malek, Revan had an opportunity to rule the Sith himself but instead chose to start a family with the Jedi. Such a waste of potential._ " The image of Malek and Revan turned away and was replaced with three new images. One of an elderly robed human woman with the hood concealing the majority of her face and her hair tied into two large braids framing her face. The next image showed a human looking individual with pale ashen skin that looked like cracked stone, with mismatched eyes, one white and the other brown. And the third a tall figure concealed within layer's of black robes that showed none of the person beneath with his face adorned with a thin red and white mask that had large eye sockets. " _From the remnants of the Sith Empire established by Revan formed a triumvirate consisting of Darth Traya, Darth Sion, and Darth Nihilus all three of whom served as the joint Lords of the Sith_."  
"Let me guess they all turned on each other, right?"  
" _While their combined efforts resulted in the destruction of entire civilization's, the very first Jedi purge, and the death of the entire Jedi council, ultimately their individual vanity and avarice led them to turning on each other and sparked a civil war within the Sith itself, the result of which led to their own death's, and the Jedi rebuilding._ " The images of the three Sith lords were soon replaced by the image of a bald, large bodied man, clad in black, with a large cybernetic attachment covering the lower portion of his face, not unlike Malek. " _Darth Malgus led the Sith in a successful assault to reclaim Korriban, during his time as Sith Lord he was only ever challenged by the Jedi Grand master Satele Shan, ironically a living descendant of Darth Revan himself. For a time Malgus had a lover, for whom he admittedly felt great affection for, but he recognized the liability she posed to him and had the constitution to remove this liability._ "  
"Remove?"  
" _He killed her, Malgus killed the woman he loved so she could never be used against him. And in doing so he discovered a secret within the Dark side of the Force._ "  
"What secret?"  
" _True power can only be obtained through true sacrifice. After killing her Malgus unlocked immeasurable depths of power hidden within himself, he was described as a one man army. When he was finally felled in battle, it took an entire strike team against him alone, while he was eventually slain he unlocked great power during his tenure_." The image of Malgus faded and was replaced by that of an image of a tall muscular, bald man, with pale skin, fiery eyes with blackened eyelids and scar like black markings. " _Eventually the Sith Empire was destroyed after countless wars and only one Sith Lord remained, Darth Bane. Bane sought to recreate the Sith order by instituting the 'rule of two', which dictated that there would only be two: A master who would posses power, and an apprentice who would covet that power. Under his teaching the Sith would consist of two all powerful beings, rather than countless inferior Sith, the two only sharing their secrets with one another , and when the time came the apprentice would either kill the master and take their place, or die trying and be replaced, in either case the cycle beginning anew._ " The image of Bane was now replaced by an image of Bane accompanied by a young blonde woman, with fiery eyes like his adorned with black markings that matched his own, and clenched in her hand was a crimson double-bladed lightsaber. " _Darth Zannah was the only apprentice Bane ever took, a competent killer from a young age her resourcefulness proved to Bane she was worthy of inheriting his mantle_." The images were now replaced by video projecting from Ship's 'eye', within the video Bane and Zannah fought side by side against numerous enemies. At several point within the video when either seemed to be overwhelmed by their adversaries the other would come to their aid, this was unusual to Vestara. " _Zannah was a dutiful student who took well to her masters teachings, unlike so many before her she did not give in to temptation and waited until her master had taught her all he could, a rare trait among the Sith._ " Several other images and video's projected of Zannah and Bane at different ages, either engaged in battle or engrossed in some sort of task. What stuck out to Vestara was how she saw no animosity between them, and in some cases an almost protectiveness of each other. " _Bane and Zannah were perhaps among the greatest of master's and apprentices, Zannah was an obedient student, and Bane took care to preserve the future of the Sith._ "  
"No, I don't think that's it. He loved her, like a parent."  
" _YOU ARE MISTAKEN._ " Vestara nearly leapt as she felt what she perceived was the equivalent of Ship shouting. " _They were Master and apprentice, nothing more. And eventually Zannah fulfilled her duty and took her place as the new Sith Lord._ " The image of the two changed to one of the two confronting one another, but Zannah seemed to be fully grown and Bane himself aged.  
"They waited though, from her childhood until she was a full grown adult, and he himself growing old. He could have at any point instigated their duel, but he delayed it, delayed their parting."  
"You are mistaken Lady Khai." Vestara wasn't sure who Ship was trying to convince more, her or himself, either way she decided to let it go for now. " _After Zannah's victory over Bane she took an apprentice herself, but the details of her term as Sith Lord are entirely unknown to all, she continued the teachings of the Sith within the Shadow. No one knows when and where she died, only that she did. Many Sith Lords following remain a complete mystery even to the Sith order itself until the rise of Darth Sidious, known publicly as Sheev Palpatine._ " At his name the image of a black cloaked elderly man, who looked almost inhuman, with monstrous eyes projected in front of Vestara, the very sight of which made her cringe " _Sidious had several apprentices himself. Darth Maul, who while capable of slaying many Jedi, was primarily fueled by rage and lacked the qualities of a leader. Darth Tyrannus, a former Jedi Master who was a force to be reckoned with himself in body and mind, but was overwhelmed by the newer generation. And his final apprentice who helped him realize his ambition Darth Vader._ " Following Ships brief description of each person a single image projected of them, for Maul a Black and Red skin Zabrak clenching a duel-bladed lightsaber, Tyrannus a refined elderly man wielding a curved-handled lightsaber, and for Vader a tall figure clad in a black body suit, with a control panel of sort attached to the chest, the suit itself was adorned with a cape, and the man's face was hidden within a large black helmet, all resulting in the man looking more like a robot than a person. " _Palpatine succeeded his master and began to systematically gain control over the republic through legal, political mean's, all the while searching for the most appropriate apprentice_."  
"I know quite a bit about Palpatine, no one can stop talking about how awful he was. He started a war, took over the galaxy, and oppressed everyone. I've heard this story already, what I haven't heard is how it ended?"  
" _Vader. While his body was broken to the point of requiring a life-support suit he still remained a powerful Sith capable of slaughtering Jedi in droves. And despite his loyalty to his master, Vader could not abandon his affection for his son._ "  
"His son? He had a child? Who?"  
" _That is irrelevant. Palpatines end came at the hand of his apprentice, giving his life so his master would die and his son would live. Th next Sith Lord to arise afterwards was Darth Caedus._ "  
Again Vestara knew that story, but she was curious as to why Ship was so quick to drop the subject of who Vader's son was. Having heard all she needed Vestara proceeded to exit Ship and began to start the speeder she had arrived on.  
" _Although brief and limited did this serve your purpose?_ "  
"Actually yes, it did."  
" _I trust you will call when your task with the Mandalorian's is finished?_ "  
"Yes, until then do not prod my thoughts uninvited like before." Ship gave no response to this, he simply began to float upwards towards the sky until he faded out of of sight. Vestara, not wishing to keep anyone who might be waiting, climbed aboard her speeder and began her way back.  
" _Yes, this served my purpose. The Sith have always come so close to their objective, only to be undone by their greed and vanity, to be undone by the fact that they can't stop killing each other, never mind the Jedi. To throw everything, everyone away and stand against the universe alone only to be crushed by their isolation. To live empty lives, and for what? What is the point of this empty existence. Yes, this little lesson has served it's purpose. I do not want an empty existence, I do not want an empty life. I do not want to be a Sith._ "

 **A/N WOW! This chapter turned out a lot longer than I thought it would, but I felt it necessary for Vestara to learn about other Sith that her tribe would have been oblivious to, but even with as long as it was I still had to paraphrase because there were so many!**

 **Also the part about Vestara saying Bane loved Zannah like a parent, this is her stating her opinion so far as I know this isn't actually the case.  
I felt that any one observing them from an outside perspective might confuse their relationship for that of a dysfunctional parent/child relationship given that they did in fact seem to show a greater care for each other's well being than any other Sith Master/Apprentice pair I can think of, even if it was for their own reasons.  
**


	27. Chapter 27

-Planet Ossus: Jedi Temple-

Leia Organa Solo, a Jedi knight of the order, walked silently and solitary through the halls of the temple having been summoned by the Council. While Leia and her brother were officially retired from their duties within the Jedi Order they had agreed that if their presence was needed they would not turn away, to this end Leia was somewhat curious what matter would have the council summon her in such a formal manner. To say life as of late had been turbulant would most certainly be an understatement as far as Leia and her family had been concerned given the political disaster that was Daala's term as head of state coupled with both the rise of Abeloth and resurfacing of the Lost sith tribe. Leia had been as of late placating the stress of recent events by beginning her granddaughter Allana's training in the ways of the force, it was both practical and gave her time to spend with her only grandchild, to her it was a win-win.  
When Leia finally entered the councils chamber she found that all 11 members of the Jedi Council, her brother and daughter included, seated and waiting for her. At her entrance everyone directed their attention at the new arrival within the chambers, and Saba Sebatyne the member of the council who had personally served as Leia's Jedi master during her tenure as an apprentice rose to her feet. Being a Barabel Saba had a naturally imposing and fearsome appearance but Leia had known her long enough to recognize that at this particular moment Saba was happy or at least pleased with something, further piquing her interest as to her purpose their today.  
"Jedi Solo, years ago you declared you intended to be apart of thiz council, but you wished to earn your place among usss. Many, this one included, were skeptical that you could do so, only beginning your official training at such a late juncture in your life. You personally asked this one to test you in new ways and show you know special treatment so that you may prove yourself, and in a few short yearz you showed such a capacity you adapt and evolve,to grow, you hunted every challenge. And in a few short yearz you proved your skill and strength to this one, and you earned your place as a Knight of our order. Since then you have faced great pain and adversity, you have suffered great tragedy and yet ,Jedi Solo, you have not faltered in your duty to the Order or the Republic in spite of the great pains taken.  
And for all you service, for all your sacrificez, Jedi Solo, it is the decision of we, the Council to grant you the title of Master."  
Leia was only slightly taken aback at this both surprised while pleased she had been the purpose for her being there, but almost felt this matter was not so large to truly require the entire councils attendance. But before she could get too deep into her thoughts Luke rose to his feet while Saba took a slight step back indicating it was now his turn to speak.  
"As an official Master of our order, I ask you once again, in recognition of your efforts, and your service to all within the Republic, do you wish to take your place among us?"  
Now aware of the true reason for everyone's gathering Leia smiled at her brother, pleased at the idea that despite their initial skepticism everyone in this room, everyone upon the council,some of whom she knew as friends, saw her as an equal worthy to stand with them.  
They did not just see Anakin Skywalkers daughter, Luke Skywalkers sister, or Jaina Solo Fel's mother. They just saw Leia, and that was what she wanted.  
"Well, I suppose I might as well. After all, who else is gonna tell you what your doing wrong?"  
Scattered laughter followed her remark.  
"Well, since your SO generous to accept our offer..." gently walking over and placing his hand on her shoulder. "I suppose that means we're stuck with you." Again scattered laughter filled the chamber, as the twin masters smiled back at each other, all the while Saba stepped forward again to address the room.  
"With thiss, the council is once again complete, for the first time...in far too long. And so our businessss today haz concluded."  
One by one each member arose from their individual seats each either to politely take their leave to return to whatever their previous affaris had been, or to simply congratulate Leia in person all the while Saba began explaining to Leia the new duties she would have as an official member of the council. While all this took place Luke noticed his son Ben standing near the doorway, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and eyes focused on his father. Luke politely parted with Leia, shortly replaced by her daughter Jaina, to make his way to Ben.  
"Is something on your mind?"  
"...Could you and I speak in private? There's something I need to tell you."  
Noting a small amount of urgency as well as anxiety in his voice Luke led Ben out of the Councils chamber and into a nearby vacant room, silently urging Ben to take a seat upon their entering.  
"So explain to me how this works, you and Aunt Leia being on the council when your both retired."  
"Well for starters, given how things usually go our retirement probably won't last long before SOMETHING pulls us back in. And in the meantime, in the event that a matter requiring the councils undivided attention arises, Leia and I will still be able to bring our input. Also now Leia will be able to train Allana in an official capacity as her legitimate master."  
"Fair enough I suppose, but why exactly did it take so long to get around to this though?"  
"Leia insisted she earn her position, although I would argue given the rebellion and founding of the New Republic, Leia EARNED her position a long time ago. Though she hasn't been a Jedi as long as I have, her accomplishments are still more than worthy of notice. But Leia is Leia, when she sets her mind to it, all we can really do is shut up and nod our heads."  
Ben chuckled as he got comfortable in his seat. "So I take it your asking me to help Saba on Coruscant had something to do with this?"  
"Indeed, while Saba has never been accused of being sentimental I felt she would wish to be personally present for this. Having her Holo herself in would have felt disingenuous. Now back on topic, what is it you wanted to tell me?"  
"Well, I saw an old friend on Coruscant."  
"Oh, who?" Ben gave no answer, simply an implicating stare as if to suggest Luke should be able to guess."No...Vestara?" Ben nodded slightly. "What was she doing on Coruscant? And why am I only hearing this now?"  
"Well Ves' claims she was there to help Mirta Gev."  
"Fett's granddaughter? What was she helping her do?"  
"Go home. She mentioned they found evidence that a cure for the virus over Mandalore may already exist."  
Luke wasn't able to contain his normal composure at hearing this "Wait, wait, wait! Already? As in this whole time there was a way of negating what Jacen did?"  
"So she says. I don't know for sure."  
"Okay, but what exactly was she doing on Coruscant, where did you run into her?"  
"...I literally ran into her...outside the Senate archives" Ben cringed in preparation of his father imminent response.  
"She was WHERE?!"  
"Now before you get angry, I would like to point out neither she,nor Mirta, took altered or destroyed anything while they were there."  
"...Mirta was in the Archives as well? Both of them were inside the Archives and I am only just now hearing about it. Son explain at what point am I not supposed to be angry and/or upset?!"  
"Okay, for one thing, she said they believed the Senate had info on this supposed cure because the Virus was supposedly developed during the Clone Wars. And I reviewed everything they looked at, every file the two examined while there. Mirta seemed to have gotten distracted with article pertaining to Jango Fett, her great-grandfather, so no real need for concern there. And every file Ves' herself tried to examine had either was either missing entire segments, heavily redacted, corrupted of outright deleted. Nothing she opened could endanger anyone."  
"And all this is supposed to make me feel better?"  
"Well, I'm just pointing out it COULD have been worse."  
"That's not helping. Alright, start from the beginning,what happened exactly after you ran into her."  
"She ran, I chased. After a while we found ourselves at the spaceport. The door to the docking bay was locked so she couldn't go anywhere."  
"So she was literally cornered, and yet she still got away. How?"  
"Well after the chase was over, we talked. I asked what she was doing, she answered then she tried to explain her side on certain matters. And I well, I kind of snapped and vented a lot of things I've been holding in. It wasn't the most productive use of our time. I think I scared the hell out of her." Ben noticed Luke shooting him a rather un-amused look. "And well...I spent so much time shouting about my issues Mirta was able to get the drop on me and shot me. Then she and Ves' ran to their ship and flew off. End of story."  
"She shot you?!"  
Ben slightly pulled down his robes and shirt to expose his shoulder which had a small, but visible, welt on it. "It was set to the lowest setting, no actual injury inflicted. Just enough to knock me off my feet long enough for them to make their escape."  
Luke was now leaning back in his chair, his hand covering his mouth, and his eyes wide in exasperation. Ben could tell he wasn't liking what he was hearing. But after only a brief silent pause Luke recomposed himself and stared back at his son. "You mentioned she tried to explain something, what exactly?"  
"Well... for one, she claims she DIDN'T try to kill Allana and aunt Leia."  
"Really? From what I hear there was surveillance video that says the contrary."  
"That's actually something I wanted to discuss with you. She says she was acting under duress from the Sith."  
"And do you believe her?"  
"Well, on the one hand she has proven herself capable of spinning a compelling story in the past. But on the other, there was alot that day I didn't see. So I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt this time around and did some asking around."  
"And?"  
"And, a couple of Jedi who were there on Coruscant that day, recall somone matching Vestara's description running from a large group of Sith, and killing several along the way. From an outside perspective, it certainly looks like there may be some merit to her story. And then there's this." Ben reached into his robes and pulled out a small data-pad and held it out towards his father before gently tapping one of the buttons on the pad to make it play a recording of Vestara's supposed attack on the _Millenium Falcon_. Luke watched the video play all the way through before looking up at Ben. "Notice something peculiar?"  
"Such as?"  
Ben tapped another button making the video play from a wide, outer angle that showed the entirety of the Millenium Falcon, before pointing down to a specific spot on the screen where Leia and Allana were quite clearly visible. "Leia and Allana ,are right there, if she wanted to hurt them why didn't she?"  
"Valid point, but hardly enough by itself to convince anyone she intentionally missed. "  
"Well, she claims she intentionally guided the detonator she threw to that specific spot on the _Falcon_ , so my question, is there any way of confirming or denying whether she's telling the truth?"  
"Actually...there might be." Luke quickly stood up gesturing for his son to remain where he is and quickly exited the room. Ben sat in isolation somewhat confused for a moment before his father very soon returned with Jedi Master Kyle Katarn. "Kyle if you could please set a matter to rest. You recall how during the Sith invasion on Coruscant, the Falcon was attacked in an apparent attempt on Leia and Allana's life?"  
"Yes."  
Holding Ben's data-pad out towards Kyle to show him the video of said attack. "I want your opinion."  
"Am I looking for something in particular?"  
"Anything that stands out. Anything at all."  
Kyle silently watched the video several times, each time changing the angle so as to get a full view of the event. "I have a question about the girl. She's human, yes?"  
Ben stood up to answer. "As human as I am."  
Kyle let out a sly chuckle. "Well, that's a matter of some debate. We're not sure what to call you."  
"Oh Ha-ha. But anyway why did you ask?"  
"Because there's no way she could have made that throw something was specifically guiding it."  
Luke rose an eyebrow at hearing this. "Your sure?"  
"Positive" pointing down to the video on the screen. "I've used a few of those myself, I know the design, how much it weighs. Also I've been trained specifically on how to use such incendiary devices, I'm well aware of all the factors that go into figuring where one would land, keep in mind I was probably the ONLY competent stormtrooper. While I'm fairly certain that in this case the detonator hit it's mark, it wouldn't be hard for me to confirm this. **BUT** it's mark wasn't your family. Convincing performance though, in the heat of the moment anyone watching would think she was actually trying. Now, assuming there's nothing else you need of me?" Luke and Ben both quickly shook their heads while Kyle went for the door. "Well then, I have to get back to Jan, let me know if and when you'd like me to look into that."  
"Will do." After Kyle exited Luke turned back to Ben who stood still staring at the ground, one of his hands at his hands at his side, impatiently tapping at his own hip. "You asked if there was a way to prove if Vestara wasn't actually trying to harm your aunt and niece, so I bring someone with weapons experience who says that may be the case, and yet you don't look pleased at all. Forgive me if I'm a little confused if not curious."  
"It only maybe absolves her of one act, there are still other matters that need to be rectified. It doesn't actually change anything. When she asked if she could become a Jedi, I told her she could do whatever she wanted, and if that was what she wanted I would personally to whatever it took to help her. And yet...and yet when Jaina told me what she did, I renounced all faith in her, I didn't stop and ask for an explanation, I didn't give her a chance to tell her side of the story. I accepted that nothing had changed and she was still the same, I never gave her a chance, really poor job of keeping my word.  
She mentioned something on Coruscant, she mentioned how she stood and fought Abeloth with me. I know full well she was scared of Abeloth, we both knew that thing was stronger that each of us, and we had been deprived of food and water for three days straight while being pushed past the point of exhaustion. And yet she stayed and fought, and somehow we survived. But I suffer no illusions about my abilities, if not for her I would have died against Abeloth. And yet all it took was a word from Jaina and none of that meant anything."  
"It was a terrible time all around, we were all vulnerable to make mistakes. And in your condition your mind couldn't have been at it's strongest."  
"Yeah, but there's a saying how if someone has your back in a fight you should have theirs, I didn't, she and I were practically a foot in the grave and she stayed and fought, she could have redeemed herself to the entire Sith all she had to do is go along, but he didn't. And in that moment it meant nothing to me!  
You asked me a while back if I thought Vestara was someone I could see myself spending my life with. I don't know if I'll ever have an answer to that question, I know what I want the answer to be but the part I'm still unsure of is myself. I don't trust people, not like I should. If this experience has taught me anything, it's that Jacen is still affecting me from beyond the grave."  
"I understand what your saying. Perhaps my quandary was in and of itself unfair. So let me make it simpler. What do you want to do? In light of everything ,you've learned now that you know everything wasn't as it seemed, what do you want to do?"  
Ben paused and remained silent for a short while pondering this. "When I saw her, she looked pale, and she seemed to have circles around her eyes, I don't think she's living healthy. And she said she was 'trying to stay away' from Ship."  
"Ship? As in the meditation sphere? That's curious, why would she need to stay away from it? It was my understanding she left WITH Ship."  
"That's a part of the story I didn't get. But she almost seemed frightened of it when she talked about it. When she refereed to herself as a Sith it was in past tense, and never once spoke of them directly, and when she brought up Ship, she said he was controlling and not...'conducive' I believe is the word she used, to 'finding her own path'."  
"Is all this not what you would want to hear, that she didn't return to the Sith and seems to be trying to avoid them? I would think that would please you."  
"True or no, again it doesn't change anything. How do you fix that, helping someone find a new path after they lose everything only to run them away from it because of what could be a misunderstanding?"  
Luke simply held up his right hand towards his son. "Some mistakes can't be undone. Once I made the mistake of believing I was greater than I was. I once made the mistake of believing I could avenge your mother." Ben knew quite well to what he was referring, or rather who, Shira Brie AKA Lumiya. Lumiya had turned Jacen Solo to the darkside, but long before that Lumiya had been enemies with Ben's mother. When Mara turned up dead Luke assumed only Lumiya could have done it, and in a moment of grief and weakness hunted her down and when Lumiya was disarmed and helpless at Lukes feet, he did something that still haunts him. In a misguided attempt to avenge his wife he cleaved her head from her shoulders, only to learn from his son Lumiya did not actually perform the act as Ben had been pursuing her at the time of Mara's death, thus an act of cold-blooded murder now stained his fathers conscience. "But... you two are still both alive and young. Should you see fit you still have plenty of time to make amends. "  
"This doesn't upset you? She tried to kill us multiple times, she betrayed us multiple times. And whether or not she tried to kill your sister and my niece, she is still guilty of several other matters."  
"No one is infallible, I can think of very few who have not been pushed to some sort of edge by the conflict between the light and the dark side of the Force. She is guilty of several transgressions yes, but not as many as we thought, and not for the reasons we believed. If everything she did was under duress than maybe she never did betray you at all, and sadly enough we are the bad guys in this matter.  
And as you said, she didn't have to help you fight monster while suffering three days worth of malnutrition and dehydration. But she did anyway. Now you never answered my question, in light of everything you've learned, what do you want to do?"  
"I'm not sure what I can do, even if she could come back, if everyone on the council was fine with it, would she? In the end whatever life she lives is her choice, and the last choice she made, whose to say she hasn't been driven from it completely? So what could I do, I'm not asking as a Jedi, or as your former apprentice, Dad what could I possibly due?"  
"Son, in this particular matter I don't have that answer. You still care about her, you still worry for her, so maybe Caedus is influencing you less than you realize. I'm not saying you should try to force her to return to the Jedi and embrace the light once again, but if whatever exists between you two still matters, find a way to reconcile that before deciding her future. I think you should make amends before anything else, how you do that however, that's your decision. Your an adult and no longer my apprentice, I can't tel you what to do anyway."  
Ben stared at the floor for a moment, his eyes rolling around as he thought of all of this, before looking back at his father, smiling, nodding in a gratuitous manner and leaving the room they occupied. After his son left Luke gripped his hands in anxiety.

Later that night Luke found himself walking alone within the temples courtyard, pondering the many times he himself may have needed to turn to someone the way Ben does to him, the times he needed someone to point him in the right direction,if only point.  
His thought however were interrupted when he heard footsteps approaching, whom he could very well tell belonged to Kyle Katarn.  
"Hello Kyle."  
"Luke. I thought it might interest you to know I went to speak with Ben about our conversation earlier but he doesn't seem to be anywhere to be found, while looking for him I noticed his Stealth-X is gone. But I get the feeling you already know this."  
"I estimate if he's left, he's gone to find Vestara. I'll look into it either way."  
"Are you okay with this?"  
"Ben is an adult and I knighted him already. I can't control his action, I can't tell him what to do."  
"And him looking for Vestara, this doesn't worry you?"  
"Do you know one of the most painful things I've had to endure is, besides losing Mara? Blinking and seeing my son had grown up, Mara and I were always called away to deal with one war after another, and before we knew it, our son was grown. And now he seems to have found someone who is to him, what Mara was to me. When I thought Mara's life was in danger I flew halfway across the galaxy to find her, and you couldn't have stopped me with an army of Death Stars, when it came to Mara I maybe got reckless more than once.  
When Ben came to speak to me he had already made up his mind, he was simply trying to discover if I would or wouldn't try to stop him. He wants to fix whatever exists between them, Vestara and himself. I could have tried to stop him, I could have objected, but then he might come to resent me especially if she came into any danger."  
"Being a father means you gotta trust them to do what's right, I learned that from my old man."  
"Ben's mind has been preoccupied with her as of late. The way thing's ended between them has been eating away at him, but the moment she gave him cause, true cause, to consider that he might not have had the whole story, he was going to dig into the matter. But some part of me wishes he didn't."  
"Why?"  
"Because, as I said I believe she has come to be to him what Mara was to me, but she is on a dangerous road. She seems to be running from the Meditation Sphere, Ship. Which would mean she would be running from the Sith. If anything happened to her, I already know the pain he would endure." Luke took a moment to catch himself as his voice started to break. "I don't wish that on him. I don't want my son to ever know the pain I felt, but I acknowledge that there is little I can due to help. If anyone can help her off the dark path she has set herself on, it would be him. Only she can decide what path in life she wishes to follow, but should she require aid I believe only he can do so, but that is a terrible burden for him to carry."  
Kyle simply smiled and gave a heavy pat on Luke's back to reassure him. "Hey, part of this life is having faith in others. Trust him to be the man you and Mara raised him to be. What happens, will happen. We can't control that. We must simply have faith, after all he's your son, at that age you were blowing up space stations and you couldn't even use the Force yet. And let's not forget, his mother was a force to be reckoned with as well."  
Luke gave a hearty laugh thinking of the difference in experience between his son and himself at the age Ben is now. And while he still worried, Kyle's words had given him a new hope.

 **A/N ERMAHGERD this one took too long! I had this chapter planned out months ago but just needed to get to it in the story.  
I especially wanted to reach this chapter a long time ago after hearing of Carrie Fischer's passing. But shit happens. **


	28. Chapter 28

For several weeks Mirta pursued whatever leads her grandfather gave her, Vestara remaining at her side, earning her keep in accordance to their agreement, they visited numerous worlds and more than a few military stations each time Mirta came,searched and left. At first their endeavor bore naught until during one such visit Mirta found something. Though she did not tell anyone save for a few Mando'ade what she had discovered, Vestara could clearly see a glint of hope within her demeanor. And so they continued down the list of locations they were advised to investigate, now with a target ,a center of focus for Mirta to follow, Vestara followed in silence giving her own advice and forewarning when they ran afoul of those who did not agree with their mission, but as time pressed on she grew all the more weary as it seemed Ship now remained with close proximity to them at all times. Vestara knew what he expected, and understood that when she failed or rather refused to deliver there would be consequences and now simply resigned herself to finish their task as quickly as she could and leave. While she had come to enjoy the contemplation her being with Mirta allowed her she recognized her continued presence only endangered her at this point but felt that if Mirta where able to return to Mandalore, even there Ship or the Sith themselves would not be able harm her.  
" _Just a little longer. Then I'll be gone._ " She silently think to herself, almost like a mantra.

Their current destination led them to an outpost on Kalevala, a planet of some importance within Mandalores system. Their visits had become somewhat uniform, Mirta and a small group would arrange a visit ,they would come and Mirta would have a slicer come and examine the records in great depth, all the while Vestara would mostly just stand there and watch everyone, watch and see if any present meant them harm. While for the most part these visit's were uneventful, there were days when Mirta's suspicion's wold be realized, days when those who oppose Fett being able to return would take some sort of action to which a brief melee would occur, always ending the same way with Mirta and her group making short work of their would-be assailants.  
At the moment Vestara was once again standing watch, simply waiting to respond to anything suspicious anyone might try. She had grown somewhat weary of this task, out of everyone she had encountered she found Mandalorian's the most difficult to read, during her brief encounters with Fett himself she felt as though she wasn't even in the presence of a person, he could steel himself so greatly he betrayed nothing of his most private thoughts. Vestara had realized many of his people shared this to an extent though not quite as extensively as Fett himself, still this made her job in all of this all the more tedious in most cases should anyone mean them harm they would not give the slightest impression until the moment before they acted at which point there was often little time to subdue and avoid any altercation outright. But so far there hadn't been any casualties so complaints had been minimal.  
To Vestara's own admission she wasn't even sure how they were allowed to simply arrive and search the various databases in the first place, she assumed it had something to do with the authority Mirta or Fett possessed or a combination therein. Whatever means they used they seemed to be official, official enough that whenever they arrived at some place whether they were welcome or not no one tried to immediately hinder them. What complications they did meet were the result of a select brave or foolish few, who thought they could stop Mirta from doing whatever it is she was, it honestly wasn't clear if anyone actually knew what they were trying to stop, just what it could cause.

Several uneventful hours passed and Vestara had grown bored, almost convinced if they hadn't found what they were looking for by now they wouldn't. As time went on the Mando nearby began to relax themselves as well, becoming less tense, which in her case was a good thing as it allowed her to perceive hidden animosity from them, it wasn't enough to discern if anyone was planning on attacking Mirta but it gave her the most likely suspects. As she relocated herself to better watch those she believed most likely to interfere, Mirta herself was addressed by the slicer she had brought along to look at something they had apparently discovered. Curious, Vestara stared over at the two wondering if they had found what they were looking for, Mirta gave off nothing yet for Vestara to feel of sense and so she watched them having become distracted from what she was previously focusing on and failed to notice one of the Mando she had been watching left the room. Before too long a sensation emanated from Mirta, it wasn't happiness or joy or even pleasure but rather contentment, either way her mood had lifted and Vestara perceived this as a good thing. Mirta murmured something to the slicer and they placed something within the computer, no doubt to copy or download something, while Mirta herself began signalling all others it was time to leave. Vestara in her boredom was pleased, she had hoped they could simply gather what they needed and leave, particularly because she wasn't fond of fighting Mando with neither the Force or her lightsaber, as Mirta had made it clear both might lead Natasi Daala to ask questions, questions they didn't want to answer. And so in the spirit of anonymity she left her Lightsaber on the Kandosii and restrained herself from using the Force, but nonetheless Mando were very capable fighters and the few times they had need to defend themselves from them in recent days were beginning to take a physical toll on her.

As everyone gathered their equipment in preparation Vestara only barely noticed one among them was missing, but wasn't entirely sure which one as she found identifying Mando'ade difficult if they didn't customize their armor. The various outposts they visited everyone who wore armor used uniform set only distinguishable by the various emblems they marked them with to denote the clan's and houses they belonged to.  
Vestara gazed around the room, perceiving any wild variable, like a single unaccounted for guardsman, to be potentially threatening. But after confirming he was no longer present she,if for no other reason than to placate her mind ,left to quickly search for him, or her, she honestly wasn't certain. The halls were eerily vacant , she assumed a military outpost such as this would be a rather busy place, but she scarcely saw anyone, a fact that only made her more suspicious. Each corridor she through was equally silent, as she passed numerous rooms she heard virtually nothing save for whatever commotion the various equipment contained within each made, she attributed this simply to their disconcertingly silent demeanor, indeed 'laconic' was a word she had come to find synonymous with Mandalorians. However in this case silence was actually welcome, she had so little of it in recent days, between the constant commotion of her and Mirta's traveling to the white noise in the back of her head from whenever Ship decided he wanted to talk, and she held no interest, and so now the lack of noise from being away from everyone even Ship, allowed her to relax.  
Eventually her relaxed stroll led her back to the hangar that their shuttle was docked in, she decided to simply wait there until Mirta and the rest of them arrived. But before too long she realized something was out of place, several something's in fact. Several storage trunks had been moved strangely close to the shuttle, so close they might get damaged during the shuttle's take off.  
"Now why would those be here?"  
Upon trying to examine them however she realized each and everyone of them had an electronic lock keeping them shut, and when trying to move them she learned they had some weight to them so she was certain they were full. After taking quick glance around to see if anyone was watching she sent a small arc of lightning from her linger into one of them, the screen on the lock went dark as a small plume of smoke emerged followed shortly by an audible click, letting her know the trunk was now unlocked,but upon opening it Vestara received quite the surprise. The trunk was filled with several racks of what she believed were military grade thermal detonators, repeating her actions once or twice more she discovered that quite possibly all of them were filled with the same detonators. All surrounding their shuttle.  
"Wait, whoever put these here couldn't have just thought we would leave these containers alone, we would have found all of this out." Taking a step back she looked at the shuttle itself, what all of the explosives were surrounding. "This is too obvious, too simple, these are a distraction." She began circling the shuttle, staring at each part, each component for anything out of place. After two or so rotations she spotted a small blinking red light coming from one of the engines, leaning in closer she found the light to be a small explosive charge. "So, we start the engines, the charge heats up and explodes, the engines magnify the explosion. And in the highly unlikely chance we didn't move those crates the explosion might be enough to set off those detonators, and we all die in a colossal pillar of fire. Overkill much?" Activating her comm she quickly set it to call Mirta's own "Mirta whatever you are doing I suggest you stop and come to the shuttle, there is something you mi-"  
Before Vestara even finished her sentence her face suddenly flew forward colliding with the shuttle itself, her body momentarily went limp and she fell to the ground, gently rubbing her forehead she realized she was now bleeding quite profusely. With what little awareness she still possessed she could tell something, or someone as the case would be, had gripped the back of her head and staring upwards to meet her attacker she, to some minor ironic amusement, noticed it was none other than the very same Mando'ade she was looking for to begin with.  
"Oh...so that's where you went off to."  
The armored figure standing above her gave no introduction or reason for the assault, they merely advanced towards her undoubtedly to continue their assailment of her. With her head throbbing she could think of little to do except kick at their right leg as they finished stepping, right as they prepared to put their weight upon it she knocked it out from under them , and down they went tumbling to the ground in an almost embarrassing manner. Vestara wasted no time pulling herself to her feet, and arming the blaster she had on her person, but her attacker was still quick witted themselves and regained their baring fast enough to grab her wrist. Though she struggled her attacker was physically larger than her and with only slight difficulty backed her against the shuttle before thrusting her arm against it. She tried to resist the pain and keep ahold of her gun but ultimately she could only do so for so long before her hand went limp and her blaster went clattering to the ground. She wasn't completely disarmed yet and managed to wrench free her right arm to grab her vibro-blade, her head still spinning from the previous trauma she swung the blade haphazardly to try and warn them off of her, she knew if she used the force against them she would have no difficulty but didn't want to risk blowing her cover just yet, so she continued to swing wildly to make them back off, out of shear chance she struck her assailant's arm and cut through their suit, and pierced their flesh, deep. The Mando'ade let out a howl of pain, and gripped there arm as deep crimson rose from the hole in their suit.  
For a moment Vestara almost felt proud of herself, but only for a moment. Her attacker reached forward again, this time expecting her to thrust with the knife and caught her arm, immediately they twisted her arm around putting her back towards them, Vestara felt them pressing on her arm and immediately figured they were trying to break her arm, not wanting to have to wait for another limb to heal she frantically struggled against them to try and pry herself free but to no avail, this Mando had her perfectly still.  
Her struggle ultimately came to an abrupt stop when a loud pop, followed by shooting pain came her shoulder, she wasn't sure if her arm was broken but she did know whatever just happened, it hurt. Vestara gritted her teeth trying to keep from shouting as her arm fell limp at an awkward angle, trying to focus her mind all she could think of was she wanted to hurt this person, an opportunity of which presented itself as she felt the Mando draw closer, she quickly thrust her head backwards into their helmet causing them to stagger backwards, though she was sure what she did hurt her more than them. Turning to face them she hoped to make the best of the brief opening she created.  
" _Let's see, man or woman_?"  
Vestara swiftly brought up her leg and caught them, with her knee, in the groin. The Mando immediately keeled over in visible pain.  
" _Man it is then._ "  
However making her enemy angry once again worked only to her disadvantage, the Mando quickly rose back up bringing her fist upwards striking Vestara fast and hard in the jaw before she could properly respond. Staggering back her right shoulder fell against the shuttle which only made it convulse further with pain, her head hurt, her arm hurt, and now her jaw, it was becoming increasingly difficult to properly focus.  
" _Under normal circumstances you would be DEAD already!_ " She thought angrily.  
Vestara staggered forward trying to regain all of her bearing's, but her opponent was determined to finish her off and lunged forward wrapping his hands around her neck. Vestara tried futilely to loosen his grip but with only one arm she couldn't do much, she understood quite well that now was the time for something desperate. With her left hand she gripped her attackers right and sent a bolt of lightning into it at point blank range, figuring she could lie about it later and say she was wearing shock gloves. Taken clearly by surprise the Mando let out a sudden cry of pain and stumbled backwards shaking his hand violently, Vestara herself was trying to ignore the small shock she herself had received, the lightning did in fact come into contact with both of them.  
Vestara understood it wouldn't take long for him to re-comport himself and wasted no time reaching out with her hand, instinctively he rose his arm to intercept, but unfortunately for him this only made it easier for her to grab his other arm and send a similar shock through it. As both of his arms went slightly limp from the numbing affect of the lightning Vestara knew she had an opening that had to be taken advantage of and grabbed for his neck, but now in fear of her he pulled himself back and she only caught the front of his helmet. "I can work with this." She repeated the same attack directly into his helmet and held on as long as she could, she was determined to make the most of this. After only a few brief seconds ultimately the Mando stumbled backwards and fell to the ground, his head slowly shaking, and her hand screaming in pain. Vestara walked over to him and, in an act of petty vengeance, stomped on his groin as hard as she could.  
"Asshole."  
Her attacker let out a loud groan of what could only be described as agony, which brought an almost uncouth grin to Vestara's face.  
Not long after she heard the sound of multiple footsteps advancing towards where she was, and she slowly emerged from behind the shuttle, forehead and lip bleeding, and her right arm hanging limp.  
Vestara immediately spotted Mirta among those approaching, who in turn noticed her, and her condition.  
"What the kriff happened?!"  
"Ask the semi-conscious sleemo behind our shuttle. I found an explosive charge attached to one of the engines, when I tried to tell you about it he snuck up and tried to kill me. I think he broke my arm."  
Mirta gestured to her fellow Mando'ade to go behind the shuttle before starting to unbind the armor Vestara was wearing, she very slowly pulled the sleeve down to look at her shoulder, which was now beginning to swell, and gently prodded it with her fingers, Vestara herself painfully wincing at each contact.  
"Well good news, it's not broken. Simply popped out of joint. Much less recovery time." Mirta then relocated herself behind Vestara.  
"Is there bad news?"  
"Kind of, you see..." Mirta then tucked her left hand under Vestara's arm and using her right took hold of her wrist"...this is going to smart." before Vestara could object to what she knew was coming Mirta quickly brought Vestara's own arm behind her head and pulled it towards her other shoulder, another audible pop could be heard as the joint realigned itself. Vestara bit down onto her already bloody lip to avoid screaming.  
"You heinous BITCH!"  
"Yes, yes. I'm a heinous bitch. Get it out of your system. Now try and explain to me the issue with the bomb on the engine and why your all bloody."  
"One of the people watching you in the records room suddenly left. I went to go look for him because he did NOT like you, and eventually found myself here. I noticed all the storage trunks around the shuttle and opened them up to find an INSANE amount of thermal detonators, I then check the shuttle and found the bomb. When I called you the guy I was looking for attacked me from behind. The rest is self-explanatory."  
Mirta thought on all this for a second before turning Vestara around to face her. "I'm sorry."  
"Beg pardon."  
"I'm sorry I've got you caught up in all of this, I told you political opponents of my grandfather would try to stop him from going home. You only agreed to help me find a cure. But lately all you've been doing is fighting to stay alive in the midst of something that should be done peacefully, without arms. All you did was go for a walk and now your bleeding. From your head."  
"Well to be fair, I did spend alot of your money and have been living off your couch, so I have to pay the rent somehow."  
Mirta chuckled at this. "I suppose you do." Mirta slowly led Vestara away from the shuttle to help her sit down, the two watched as Vestara's would-be assailant was carried away by two of the other Mando'ade, one of Mirta's own approached the two not long after.  
"The explosive charge has been removed and we are checking for more. As soon as that man is able to talk he'll be questioned thoroughly. What exactly did you do to him?"  
"Shock gloves." Mirta gave Vestara a quick accusatory stare to her rather sudden answer. "Then stomped on his balls. It was cathartic. And fun."  
"I see."  
Mirta examined the room, counting the storage containers Vestara had said to be filled with explosives. And back at their shuttle, watching as someone carried a small metal box, which she presumed contained the aforementioned charge, away. "How long until the shuttle can take us back? She requires some medical treatment."  
"Depends on how long it takes to verify that the shuttle is safe. They have medical facilities on base."  
"It was someone 'on base' that did this to her in the first place. Pardon me for not having the utmost faith in them. We already have what we came for, so I see no reason for us to linger."  
"Fair enough. I'll get an update on how long it will take."  
As Vestara attempt to stretch out her arm she remembered she didn't actually know what it was that they came to find, Mirta said they found it which was well and all, but given circumstances present she was curious. "What exactly WERE we looking for, if I may?"  
"Well I suppose I should tell you, especially after what you just went through." Mirta started pressing several buttons on a data-pad she was holding, before placing it in front of Vestara herself. "What do you see?"  
Vestara stared at the screen but couldn't quite make sense of what she say. "Dots...and little...lines?"  
Mirta swiped her finger across the screen making it go to another image that was essentially the same thing. "And now?"  
"Same thing...I think."  
Mirta continued swiping across the screen passing through several images all a large series of small lines and dots, but each one arranged slightly different than the last. Finally she pressed a button and all the images appeared on the screen at once and began to overlap one another the lines and such connecting to form letters and numbers and what eventually began to look like the diagram of a chemical formula, but when all the images had properly aligned she could see there were still sizeable gaps in the overall image.  
"During one of our previous stops, one of the slicer's noticed that a basic line of coding with in the computers was larger than it should be, when we examined it we found one of those images hidden inside the coding itself, at first I thought it was corrupt not fragmented so I took it back with us. When that turned out to not be the case I kept a hold of it anyway because, well if it wasn't important why hide it so thoroughly? The next base we went to, we found another file larger than it should be, inside one of these images. My curiosity piqued, I decided to see where this led us. And now,well , you can see what it's turning into."  
"A formula...for the cure?"  
"That is the hope. All this time we thought Skirata hid it all in one place, but really it seems he divided it. The true beauty of it, we don't even need to find every piece. Every segment is so small that if someone else found it, they couldn't tell what they were even looking at, and likely ignore it. If not, it's tiny anyway. But at the same if we missed a couple segments the gaps would be small enough that any reasonably skilled chemist could accurately fill in the gaps. I've refrained from saying anything because, well I still don't technically know if this even IS the cure."  
"But here's to hoping, right?"  
"I suppose. Now, let's see how much longer it's going to be before we can leave."  
As Mirta left to attend to that matter Vestara allowed herself to relax once more. " _If she has a direction to follow, a lead to pursue, then maybe this will all be over before Ship can complicate matters._ " She very much wanted to keep Mirta out of whatever affairs Ship and the Sith had, she left them complicate enough of her life. Now a closing point seemed to be drawing near, and this brought her relief.

 **A/N HOLY MOTHER FUCKING SHIT I'M ALIVE! Dear lord I did not mean to be away for 11 months, I wasn't even aware that much time had passed until I logged on! Long story short, thing's have been hectic, I mean REALLY Hectic, at my job. And unfortunately I'm one of the managers so when things go sideways I have to clean that mess up. Work has finally returned to normal and I hope to go back to my regular schedule.**  
 **This is 1/7 of a large update.**


	29. Chapter 29

After they returned to the Kandosii Vestara was quickly examined by the ship's 'medic', they used that term lightly as no one aboard actually possessed a medical license but their was one among them who knew enough to survive on the road. True to Mirta's conclusion Vestara's arm wasn't broken, merely popped out of place, and due to being held in that place for the time it had the muscles had swollen and would be sore for several days, but nonetheless there would be several matters to attend to, plotting their next course, learning the conclusion of their interrogating Vestara's attacker and so fourth, Vestara herself wasn't entirely bothered by the why or who of it all, she compared the situation to the conflict with the Sith and Jedi in that more often than not there was simple violence without anyone being truly aware of what they were actually fighting for.  
" _People fight for causes because someone else says they are important, but rarely do they truly understand why._ "

Vestara once again waited in her quarters, she never associated with any of the other crew and did her best to keep to herself, she figured the less they saw of her the less upset by her presence they might be. This mostly worked except that some, namely Rook, wanted her gone as they viewed her as an outsider who had no place among them.  
The fight on Kalevala wasn't entirely unusual, there had been several like it as of late, though often the melee involved Mirta and whoever else was accompanying them.  
Vestara began removed all the Mando'ade armor Mirta had loaned her, examining herself as she did so, her body had more than it's fair share of bruises from recent events. Splotches of deep purple strewn across her torso and limbs. "I could do with less action for a while." As she continued examining to determine where all she was bruised and beaten she applied a medical poultice she received during her most recent trip to the 'medic' to help relieve pain and relax her muscles to reduce the swelling, while it took affect very quickly the initial application left much of her body stinging. Vestara was no stranger to physical pain or discomfort, between her encounters with Abeloth, her fathers 'disciplinary measures', and the injuries she sustained at the monolith she had come to be used to it and noticed as of late her growing capacity to endure.  
When she was done applying medicine to her wounds she sat at the small table their quarters held, waiting for it to take affect, during which time she examined a small metal box she left on the table. Contained within was the crimson Lignan crystal she used to use for her lightsaber, a crystal which strengthened her connection to the dark side itself, in some cases she heard Lignan was quite addictive and made the behavior of those who utilized it quite erratic. She had as of late come to dislike the crystal to an extent, such things were only ever gifted to the strongest and most accomplished of the Sith's master, but she was gifted one for being the chosen Sith Ship made contact with. She had come to feel resentment towards Ship for how he was trying to steer her life and no longer took pleasure in possessing anything to do with him, not only that she had begun to ponder how this tiny crystal itself might have affected her own behavior.  
" _What if I had gotten rid of it?_ " She thought. " _What if the moment Skywalker made me his apprentice I picked a new one? Would I have behaved differently? Would thing's have ended differently? Is the very thing that stopped me from pursuing that life nothing more than one single lapse in judgement? Nothing more than a tiny crimson stone?_ "  
She put the small box containing the crystal to the side and stared at her lightsaber for a moment, in place of her old crimson crystal she now used a pitch black one, which when she thought of it seemed to fit her much better. " _Black, the absence of color, similar to white only it's dark. I'm no Sith, nor am I a Jedi, I am colorless but I am still very dark._ "  
Before Vestara delved too deep in thought her bruises relaxed and the pain soothed, now she could rest properly. She retreated to her bed and lay still anxiously awaiting sleep to come for her, her mind slowly calmed and everything began to drift away.  
Until, a very familiar and unwelcome sensation entered her mind. " _OH, FOR KRIFF'S SAKE SHIP! Can't I take a nap without you butting in?!_ "  
" _We need to speak, at once._ "  
" _What could possibly be so important it can't wait until later?_ "  
" _You. You were allowed to continue this errand, with the intent of removing any and all distractions that might hinder you. The Sith Lord made an allowance of this, though this act of charity was not necessary. You were seen as holding worth and so you were permitted time to cleanse yourself of distraction, that you may better serve the Sith. But still you linger. Still you belay your reunion with the Sith. It was then made known your venture may yet yield the Sith powerful allies. The Sith Lord was intrigued by this prospect, more so if you could actually accomplish it. But you still yet delay._ "  
" _It's not delaying if the task isn't done! What I'm trying to help accomplish is something that has taken several years so far! A promising lead only recently presented itself, but it won't fix itself overnight. You and your Sith Lord need patience._ "  
" _You are not in any position to demand patience from anyone, let alone from the Lord of the Sith. Now you spoke of a promising lead, does this mean your task is nearing it's end?_ "  
" _It's complicated, it's-_ " Before the conversation, or rather argument, could continue Mirta entered the room addressing Vestara as she did so.  
"Hey, you alright?"  
"...Yeah, perfectly fine. Why do you ask?" Mirta simply waved her finger in the direction of Vestara's torso, which given her state of minor undress told her she was referring to her many bruises and welts. "Oh..yeah, I'm fine."  
" _Lady Khai, we must speak on the matter of the Mandalorians._ "  
" _No we don't, not right now. We can speak later!_ "  
Mirta, completely oblivious to Vestara's current conversation with Ship, began speaking to her as she put away her belonging's. "So I forwarded my grandfather the news of the files we've been finding earlier, but I hadn't yet heard back from him."  
" _Lady Khai! This is a matter of importance that can no longer be delayed!_ "  
" _Shut up Ship!_ "  
"He only just got in contact with us when we got back-"  
" _The Sith require an assurance to the Mandalorian's cooperation._ "  
"-And apparently the info paid off-"  
" _SHIP! This is not the time! Go away!_ "  
"-Ba'buir says he found quite a few of them himself-"  
" _You said you could gain there cooperation, their assistance, we require proof on this regard._ "  
"-And now we're heading towards the closest port we can-"  
" _No Ship!_ _I_ _didn't say that._ _YOU_ _did_!"  
"-So we can all get together-"  
" _Are you suggesting this entire endeavor of yours has served no purpose?_ "  
" _No, it has served a purpose, just not one_ _YOU_ _would understand. .AWAY!_ "  
"-And then we can see how much more we actually have to find."  
" _Lady Khai, this is truly distressing. Your failure to secure the Monolith at the Breach gave the Sith Lord great pause as to your usefulness. He questioned whether or not the personal information relating to the Skywalker family truly held any worth. Indeed it was a matter of debate if you truly deserved a chance to redeem yourself. But the idea of you securing the loyalty of the Mand'alore and his granddaughter intrigued him greatly, this was your final chance to prove your worth. It seems it has been pointless._ "  
" _Don't go complaining to me about that! You jumped to the conclusion that Mirta and her Grandfather would ever work with the Sith. I NEVER said that, you made an assumption! Mirta and Fett HATE the Sith, and you know why, they only tolerate my presence. For all that you can teach other's you truly understand so little._ "  
" _Well then, we find ourselves at a regrettable juncture._ "  
" _What do you mean? What is that supposed to mean?!_ "  
" _It was always my estimation that you held great potential._ "  
Silence fell as the conversation abruptly ended. " _Is him leaving a good thing or no?_ "  
Vestara quickly jumped out of her bed and began to dress herself. Something was about to happen, something was comeing. Mirta realized the sudden urgency of her behavior and tried to calm her. "Hey, what's going on, are you alright?"  
"Mirta, I think something bad is about to happen. And it's pretty much my fault."  
"...Define 'bad'."  
Vestara had no time to respond as the entire vessel violently shook followed by the sound of an explosion in the distance. Mirta and Vestara tumbled to the ground amidst the violent tremors, as they tried to regain their stance the ship quaked once more throwing them further about their room. Greatly unamused Mirta grabbed her comm. "SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT THE BLOODY KRIFF IS GOING ON!" Her rather loud query was almost immediately responded to by the voice of whom Vestara recognized as the ship's pilot and owner.  
"Some...thing, has opened fire on us. I'm not sure what it is, it's very small, it's very fast. And it can pack a punch."  
Mirta glared at Vestara as the ship shook several more times, she knew what it was that was attacking, and Vestara had already informed Mirta that between Ship's small frame, incredible speed and maneuverability it was quite capable of outright destroying larger vessel's without any sort of aid.  
"Helm listen I may be, to a point, familiar with the vessel attacking us. If it is indeed what I think it is you need to take every precaution, it is capable of bringing down this Ship without assistance!"  
"It's the size of an escape pod, are you sure?" Before Mirta could even respond the Kandosii shook more violently than the last time, followed by the lights in the room flickering for several moment's before steadying. "Well...I guess that answer's that question."  
"You and I need to have a talk...later." Another tremor threw them down to their feet, and Mirta's patience was officially spent. "But for now I need to know, can you man a turret?" Vestara violently shook her head in the affirmative. "Good, because That's what I need you to do right know!"  
The two then made a rather uneasy trek to the Kandosii's port-side, though the journey was short it was quite arduous given the increasing frequency of the tremors, with each the two were immediately forced to grab hold of something, anything to maintain their posture, all the while the light's flickered erratically and panels fell of the wall's and ceiling.  
A ship of the Kandosii's class possessed 5 cannon's on each side, port and starboard given it a total of 10, each could be controlled by from the bridge as well as being manually controlled by a person should the manpower be available. When Vestara and Mirta finally reached them they found most already occupied and firing at Ship, the two of them spared little time, each entering turrets adjacent to one another.  
Ship flew in and out of Vestara's personal field of vision erratically, each time he disappeared from view an explosion could be heard in the distance as Ship himself fired upon it. Each of the Kandosii's cannons fired continuously, the wide spray of plasma fire only narrowly missing Ship, in the past Vestara had come to appreciate Ship's small size and how hard it made it to actually hit Ship, now this same fact cause her great irritation and anxiety.  
Mirta, who was losing her patience quickly, grabbed her comm to contact the bridge once again. "What exactly is our status?"  
"This type of vessel was built to take a hit so there hasn't been a hull breach, but we are coming close."  
"If we can't hit this **Shabuir** then I suppose the only option is to head to the nearest planet as fast a this thing can get us there. In the meantime does this Ship have any other armaments?"  
"Just the turret's, it's never been commissioned for military or combat purposes. But I might add if the shield's fail and we do suffer a hull breach, entering any planet's atmosphere would be detrimental upon the vessel itself. And worse-case scenario, atmospheric reentry could kill us!"  
"Well unless we find a way to slow this thing down it might very well bring us down by itself! So get us there fast!"

Vestara knew there was a chance they wouldn't even make it to their destination, she had personally watched Ship bring down enough vessels to provide a planet that previously held no form of space travel with an entire armada. But there was one advantage they might have that all of Ship's victims didn't, one trained in the Dark Side of the Force. Ship was receptive to the Force itself, especially the Dark Side, and one does not need to be within Ship to control it. Vestara tried to concentrate on Ship through the mental link they had always shared, with Ship staying in close proximity it was easy to focus on him.  
" _Ship, you need to stop this. You need to stop attacking_ "  
" _I'm afraid I can't._ "  
And then nothing, something cut them off, as if an invisible wall blocked her from speaking to Ship. The more she concentrated the more an image began to manifest in her mind, or rather a silhouette, a shape. Slowly it began to come more and more into focus until it could be identified as the shadowy image of a person. It didn't take long for her too figure out what this meant. Someone was inside Ship, someone, likely a Sith, was actively using Ship to try and kill her.  
This provided an entirely new problem, if Vestara was the only Force sensitive individual capable of using the the Dark Side then she might be capable of compelling Ship to call off his assault, if not out right leave. But now that someone was actually inside Ship piloting him, it would be highly unlikely he would heed her commands unless by chance Vestara herself was more powerful than the Sith. But that seemed unlikely.  
" _I still have to try, I know what he's capable of. He can and will bring down this entire vessel, just to kill me._ "  
In the midst of the endless gunfire and explosions, Vestara concentrated on Ship, desperately trying to push past the boundary his pilot had crated." _Ship, you need to stop this._ " No answer, no response. Another explosion echoed in the distance. The Kandosii quaked once again, Mirta began shouting through he comm.  
"We've almost lost all shields! That thing's about to punch a hole in us."  
One final orb of plasma flew towards the Kandosii striking next to the turret Vestara herself was manning, Vestara could see the thin field that was the ships deflector shield dispersing. Somehow she knew the next shot would head for her, she knew if something didn't happen Ship would kill her. " _I will not die here."_ Vestara channeled every bit of the Dark side she could, fueling it with her desire to live, her desire to kill the threat to her. Her eyes turned a fiery yellow as she let out one final mental scream. _"_ _ **STOOOOOOOP!**_ "  
Suddenly and almost inexplicably Ship complied.  
He stopped. Everything.  
He stopped firing.  
He stopped moving.  
Neither Vestara nor the Mandalorian's wasted the opportunity afforded them, all five port side cannons, as well as the dorsal turret opened fire on Ship. The Sith vessel was assailed relentlessly, Vestara knew Ship had a deflector shield of his own, but it would not stand up under that pressure. Eventually the shield fell and she watched as pieces of Ship's outer plating slowly broke off under the consistent rain of fire. For a moment it seemed Ship would be outright destroyed right here and now, but as luck or misfortune would have it, before it received terminal damage it began to move once more, flying as fast as it could to out maneuver the torrent of gunfire. Though the damage he had sustained slowed his moment greatly he was still small and quick enough to get away and resumed his own assault on the Kandosii, much to Vestara's own disbelief.  
"He almost got ripped apart just now,and he's still trying to kill us."  
A series of explosion's echoed in the distance, neither Mirta nor Vestara heard over the comm's that the hull of the ship had been breached but Vestara knew Ship was doing significant damage to the Kandosii's outer plating. Vestara did not believe she could stop Ship a second time, her mind felt exhausted in a way she had trouble describing, and in order to accomplish this task in the first place required her to go to a place she didn't want to. Her head still ringing from said experience she sneakingly reached for her comm to speak to Mirta trying her hardest to keep her voice steady.  
"Mirta...if you have any ideas...now would be a good time."  
"May I assume him stopping a second ago was you?"  
"Yes...but I can't do it a second time. So...any ideas?"  
More explosion's rang in the distance, this time much closer to them. "I have one. But it's not a good one. But with what you've told me about what this thing can do, and the damage we are taking, I'm not seeing much choice." Adjusting the channel on her comm Mirta called the helm. "Is there any way this thing can go faster at all?"  
"We're coming up on the closest planet we can land on now, if I don't slow down the ship will suffer significant damage in atmo."  
"Then have everyone in the ship head towards the central areas and strap themselves in."  
"Oh yes, and while I'm at it shall I stick my finger in a wall socket after slapping a rancor in the genitals?"  
Another series of explosions echoed frighteningly close to Mirta's present location. "We are under attack from a vessel we can't hit, you have any better idea's?"  
"And just **HOW** is this any better?!"  
"If it want's to follow us it'll have to match speed, it's not big enough to survive entering atmo at high velocity, and if it is it won't be able to maneuver during reentry."  
"If we go too fast literal pieces of the ship will be torn off, we won't be able to go anyWHERE anyTIME soon!"  
Another explosion rattled the Kandosii as Ship fired upon it's main thrusters, though they still functioned pieces of the outer plating flew off into the dead of space."Would you rather die?!"  
"...I am not fond of the idea of pieces of my ship flying off. But I concede that circumstance is not ideal, on that note you and anyone else manning a turret better get somewhere safe, I can't guarantee they will survive, in the meantime I can operate them from here."  
"I apologize for all of this and I plan to reimburse you for all the damages."

Everyone, Mirta and Vestara included heeded the warning to gather in the sections of the ship not directly adjoining the outer hull, as everyone made their way to safety the vessel violently trembled as the ship accelerated through the atmosphere. The further down they went, the closer they drew to the planet the more intense the tremors became. On the outside, the ship's outer plating began to rattle loose where it had sustained damage, splinters of metal breaking off of holes and other openings where Ship had fired upon them, though the inner hull still remained intact.  
Ship tried to match the speed of the retreating vessel's descent, a feat that it found difficult as the Kandosii was large enough to at least endure the atmospheres heat and pressure, better than Ship was anyway. In accordance to the wishes of it's pilot Ship began firing sporadically at the Kandosii in some last ditch effort to keep the vessel from evading them. While a few of it's shot's missed, the remaining found their target as the Kandosii was simply too large to miss everytime, with each impact the force of the plasma fire and the atmospheric heat caused portion's of the outer plating to shatter as if made of glass and slowly peel of the ship only for gravity to pull it back down.  
The Kandosii's pilot's returned fire in full force but Ship wasn't close enough for them to get an accurate lock on through the heat and pressure,but the wave of turret fire also served to make unable to properly target it's prey as well.  
After a very brief and almost pointless exchange of gunfire back and fourth between one another the distance between the too vessel's had become too great for Ship to continue matching speed. It continued to follow it's pilot's commands to pursue, but the damage it had already sustained was taking it's toll, pieces of it's own outer plating began to sliver off and soon Ship's 'eye' began to crack under the pressure. Just as it seemed as though Ship would actually be destroyed by the obsessiveness of it's own pilot it received the order to disengage and retreated into part then unknown.  
As for the Kandosii itself, the prey that evaded Ship, it's problem's still persisted. With Ship's retreat they began trying to slow their descent so as not to crash, but right before reaching the troposphere, multiple section's of the inner hull that had been fired on by Ship from the outside were no longer able to retain their integrity and shattered open, the air within igniting immediately. With multiple pillars of fire pluming from within and a wave of burning metal debris surrounding it the Kandosii was no doubt a frightful sight from an outsider's perspective, a large vessel amidst a torrent of flame heading towards the nearest station they could detect.  
Despite the damage it had sustained the Ship's capacity to make a landing had in no way been impaired, but in their haste to evade Ship they reached speeds that made a 'comfortable' landing impossible. As they neared an empty stretch of space to dock the entire vessel convulsed as it came grinding down on it's own landing gear, the impact of suddenly touching down threw loose even more of the outer plating, and the ship slowly spiraled into a halt, several sections still aflame, and many passerby's staring in awe and fright.  
Aboard the ship itself Vestara held her throbbing head as she tried to compose herself after having been thrown around so much, at the moment she got her bearings she looked up to find her gaze met with a venomous glare from Mirta, and she knew she had some explaining to do.

 **A/N 2/7 of a large update, not too thrilled with the narration of this chapter but oh well.**


	30. Chapter 30

For hours Vestara toiled, helping with the repairs to the Kandosii after their encounter with Ship. While the majority of the vessels damage was on the ship's exterior Vestara personally focused on the interior damage, realigning wires and fitting them back into panels on the walls or ceiling that had come loose, and helping to replace what ever electrical components required it. She remained inside because everyone else was primarily focused on fixing the exterior.  
It had been almost a week since Ship attacked them, and while Mirta did not outright tell anyone Ship was their for Vestara, many of the crewman assumed, correctly so, that she held a certain responsibility in this matter. Mirta herself was particularly incensed with Vestara, when they began their travels together they reached a certain understanding with one another ,that being that given Mirta's unsavory and abysmal experiences with the Sith, Vestara was to keep any business she had with them out of Mirta's life. Mirta didn't even want to know what, if anything, she was required to do for them, so long as it didn't interfere or impact her life in any way. They always had an understanding that their partnership was temporary and eventually they would part, all that was asked was that their affairs did not intersect as this would likely draw each of them into a prolonged conflict that neither wanted.  
Ship outright attacking them in an attempt to kill Vestara was a breach of that agreement. And so Vestara tried what she could to fix the damage, she worked tirelessly for hours on end each day to try and rectify the tension between them, and while her efforts were ultimately not unwelcome the remaining crew treated her with what almost counted as animosity. Vestara had never truly been welcome aboard the Kandosii in the first place, Rook among others saw to that, her talents and where they come from were not great secrets and they the crew too shared Mirta's disdain for the Sith.  
Perhaps the greatest issue was the apprehension that now existed between the pilot, and subsequent owner, of the vessel itself and Mirta. While each Mandalorian aboard the ship was a part of a particular group which Fett had placed his granddaughter in command of, the ship itself was not hers but the personal property of another, and even Mirta's presence aboard was not an entitlement. And now the ship was undergoing costly repairs due to an incident brought on by an outsider traveling with Mirta, Vestara understood she placed Mirta in a difficult position and this only made thing's worse between the two of them.

After yet another long day Vestara decided it was time to retire, feeling that she made a sizeable contribution, her clothes covered in grease,oil and small electrical burn she made her way to her quarters to wash herself, get some rest and repeat this pattern until all the repairs were complete. She didn't expect too much to see Mirta as they had not spoken much since the incident. Mirta herself was particularly upset that the Sith or at least Ship thought the Mandalorians wold offer their loyalty and Vestara had chosen to keep this secret, citing that had she known a potential hazard was coming she could have better prepared for such an event, as they discovered during the attack the Kandosii possessed only the standard armaments and wasn't equipped to defend itself from a vessel capable of moving as fast as Ship, though admittedly there were few that could.  
On that note Vestara wondered if they would encounter Ship again when they finally left the planet they were docked on. While she understood nothing of the technology that comprised Ship, she knew that given that Ship was only the size of a standard escape pod he was likely fully repaired already and possibly lying in wait. But Vestara could not tell, she felt nothing from Ship anymore, and could no longer sense his presence.

Upon finally reaching her quarters Vestara was met with a surprise, sitting at the small table in her and Mirta's room was none other than Mirta's grandfather, Boba Fett. Fett himself was turned towards the door one arm at his side stretching slightly out of view and his other resting on the table, carbine in hand, with his index finger rhythmically tapping the side of the fire arm. He was not tightly gripping the gun but he did have a hold of it, and that was all the warning she was going to get.  
As she entered Fett gestured to the opposite end of the table from him entreating her to sit. Vestara did not push her luck and simply complied, sitting down and staring at the statuesque man in front of her.  
"Mirta...has regaled to me a rather interesting story about you. I knew you weren't among the slighted party trying to return home, but the fact that Mirta allowed you to wear armor her mother had given her told me she trusted you, and I am not against her having friends. But the truth of where you come from...that I will admit I did not foresee. I guess I assumed she would never give a Sith the time of day."  
Vestara silently mused over the fact that this was perhaps the most she had heard Fett speak in the few occasions she met him.  
"But...now it seems you have brought an unusual problem to our doorstep. I'd like to hear more about that, from you, Mirta has made it clear you are the better 'authority' on the matter."  
Vestara noted to continued tapping of his finger before answering. "What particularly would you like to know?"  
"Everything. The who, the what, the why. Everything."  
"Alright, well let me start by saying this: I didn't mean for this to happen. I'm not making excuses or anything and I'm not going to beg for forgiveness but I will say that as you said, she has given me the time of day, Mirta has been kind to me, I daresay even a friend. I honestly can't say I know of anyone else who would do so, and so I would like to state I didn't want her getting mixed up in my problems."  
For whatever reason Fett's finger stopped tapping and his hand seemed to relax, as if her honesty appealed to him. "Now as for the who, what,and why. The one who attacked this vessel is something called a Sith Meditation Sphere, for whatever reason this particular one received the moniker 'Ship'."  
"Ship? It is a ship called 'Ship'?" Vestara simply nodded and Fett himself remained motionless and relaxed. "Unusual name. But you said IT attacked, as if to say by itself."  
"Ship has a very advanced A.I., it can run itself for indefinite periods of time, at least I think it can. I honestly don't know how long it can operate itself."  
"What do you know about it?"  
"Very little." Fett's finger began tapping the side of his gun again. "It is very ancient technology, from what I understand it was built hundreds if not thousands of years before the fall of the Old Republic, and it was built using lost technology I do not remotely understand. It has access to vast amount's of data, ancient history, lessons to teach others how to use the Force. It can move though space itself with no apparent propulsion system, and somehow responds to the Force. As in to say the technology is designed to be influenced or controlled by the Force."  
Fett's finger relaxed once more. "What does that mean 'controlled by the force'?"  
"As in it has no real controls inside, while it can operate itself if a pilot did so choose to operate Ship they would control it through the Force. This also means someone outside of it can control it. Also it seems to communicate exclusively through the Force, so if one isn't Force-sensitive, they can't speak to it."  
"And what if two people were to give it conflicting orders?"  
"Then it would obey whoever was stronger with the Force, and it wouldn't have a choice in the matter. I myself have been held captive inside of it before, while some...thing stronger than me commanded it."  
"So, you've been in contact with a probe that you know nothing about and can think for itself, except when someone who doesn't even have to be near it tells it what to do with their mind." The skepticism in his voice was profound.  
"I am well aware that all sounds absurd...even given what usual oddities follow one with my experiences."  
"Now, explain to me how it was able to inflict the damage it did on a vessel considerably larger than it."  
"Ship's unusual shape and propulsion allow it a greater range of maneuverability that one would expect, and given it's size, Ship itself is just far to difficult to hit in the first place. I suppose the best analogy I could use is he's like a flea, a dangerous flea that isn't there when you swat at him, and if given enough time this flea could kill a rancor."  
"I understand it sustained significant damage during the conflict, how if it's so hard to hit?"  
"Like I said, if one is strong enough they can override whatever orders it's been given, I used this downside to my advantage and managed to very briefly overwhelm his pilot. The only order I gave it was 'stop', and so he stopped. Everything."  
"And why couldn't you do this again?"  
"Whoever was controlling it is too strong. I nearly passed out just making it stand still once. I was able to get the best of him ONCE, I can't just repeat the process over and over again like flipping a switch."  
"Alright. And now the why. Why did it try to kill you, or rather why was it ordered to kill you?"  
"It doesn't seem to understand people, their morals and such. It can't seem to understand that sometimes if you owe someone a personal debt you must pay it off. Sometimes you just owe somebody a favor. It seemed to believe that if I helped Mirta you and her would be...grateful and willing to offer your services, and the services of those that follow you."  
Fett simply stared for a moment before momentarily tapping his finger on his gun again and then shortly stopping. "It wanted us to work for you?"  
"It wanted the Mandalorians to work for the Sith. I am not exactly what one would call on the best terms with them already, it thought I would redeem myself by giving them...an army if you will."  
"And?"  
"And, even if I was crazy enough to want that, I'm well aware that given what the Sith have done to you, you'd both probably rather fly into a sun than work with them. I'm not so foolish that I can't see what is beyond my grasp. Either way, when he got tired of waiting he demanded an assurance of your cooperation and I told him that wasn't going to happen, and evidently they have decided if I'm not showing up with a grand prize then I'm not worth their time."  
"It seems they went though alot of trouble to convey the message that you are a disappointment to them."  
"I think it has less to do with this misunderstanding and more to do with their need for secrecy. From what little I could convince Ship to ACTUALLY tell me of this new Sith order, is that they like to keep themselves secret. They have actually been around for some time, how long he wouldn't say, but they have taken great pains to keep everyone else none the wiser. I estimate the main reason they now wish me dead is that if I am no longer of use to them, then I am a threat by way of simply being privy to the fact that they exist."  
"Well, whatever your disagreements with them are, that is still your problem not ours. So I guess the question that now exists is this: What now? Chances are this 'Ship' will try to kill you again, so one must wonder whether we shouldn't leave you on this planet and head on our way.  
But then one must consider that it might decide we are a liability given the time you've spent with Mirta, they might just be paranoid enough to try and kill her, perhaps out of fear of what she may or may not know, that is if they are as secretive as you say. So how do we fix this? How do we make this right?"  
"I assume you mean after the part where someone deals with Ship?"  
"That is a given, what I'm asking is what remunerations you plan on making to resolve this, or were you simply under the assumption this would fix itself?"  
"What will I do? Anything, I'll do whatever it takes."  
Fett's finger began tapping his carbine again, this time with a sense of impatience. "I thought you said you weren't going to beg."  
"This isn't me begging. You see I have a rather unfortunate history when it comes to people I consider friends. In the end no matter how hard I try, my problems always seem to become their problems. I thought that this once I could break this unsavory loop I find myself in, but that wasn't the case. But still I want to fix this, be it out of general altruism for Mirta, me simply paying her back for putting up with me, take our pick. But should you see fit to grant me the opportunity to make reparations, I'm not going to argue with whatever it is you so choose would be adequate."  
Fett's finger once again stopped and rest on his rifle. "And what if..." as he spoke his grip tightened on his carbine and positioned his hand around the trigger while ever so slightly shifting it in her direction."... I decided that you were simply not worth the trouble of a second chance?" Vestara sat up straight very quickly. "Understand, my capacity for patience regarding certain matters has dwindled greatly over the years."  
For a moment she simply stared trying to ascertain whether or not he was being serious, the fact that his face was concealed made that difficult, and the fact that he seemed very adept at hiding his emotions didn't help. The silence between the two lasted for what felt like a lifetime and his unwavering posture, his utter stillness, seemed to suggest he meant what he was saying. Vestara became very tense and nervous, she understood from tales Mirta had regaled to her that Fett had more than enough experience fighting Force-sensitive individual's, and that if he wanted he most likely could kill her here and now. "Well...I couldn't really blame you for coming to this conclusion, I am a handful. But if that is your choice allow me to explain, I've no intention of rolling over and showing my belly just for you to gut it. If you decide to kill me, I will make you work for it, I've no intent on being easy prey for anyone."  
A heavy silence permeated for a moment as the blank figure before her remained motionless and calm,Vestara herself began to grip the table they sat at and quickly darted her eyes around to ensure she knew where her lightsaber was, and how difficult it might be to retrieve it. Her eyes tried to follow his other arm at his side to perceive whether he was had a weapon in that hand, Fett himself mused over how serious she was that should he wish her harm she was going to fight him tooth and nail, when suddenly Fett seemed to burst out into laughter while turning his rifle away from her taking her very much by surprise. "You are most certainly an amusing one, I think I can see what Mirta likes about you. The last time a little girl spoke to me like that was when I first met Mirta herself."  
"Okay, one second your pointing a gun at me, then your happy or whatever. Is this just some maniacal way of lulling me into a relaxed state before killing me anyway, because I prefer to see it coming."  
"You can relax, I've no intent on harming you, I never did."  
"Then what was the point of that?"  
"People often show a bit of their truest self when in dire circumstances, and I needed a glimpse of what kind of person you are."  
Vestara let out an agitated huff at this. "And if you don't mind my asking, what kind of person do you think I am?"  
"Just as you said, someone who does not lay down and die. Which is of use to me."  
"And when you say of use..."  
"I mean I have a task for you. You said you would do anything to make amends. And so there happens to be a task that I find myself unable to perform in person, so I require assistance."  
"And this task would be what exactly?"  
Fett stood from where he sat and made his way to the door, not even bothering to look back at Vestara as he spoke. "That is a discussion for later. For now our focus is the matter of this 'Ship'. You've made it clear it, and whoever is manning it, have ample reason to want you dead. And until someone tells me otherwise, it seems to also wants a corpse of Mirta, which makes him, intractably so, my problem. We deal with that first, your 'redemption' if you will, shall be settled after."  
"Well we didn't exactly fair all that well against him the first time around, what exactly makes you so sure that when he rears his face again we'll do any better?"  
Fett continued to address her without actually facing her as he exited the room. "I have a history of surviving encounters with I, by all means, shouldn't have. This wouldn't be the first time." Fett was almost completely out of earshot when he uttered one last thing to her "I also have a history of being the last man standing."  
With all the time she had spent with Mandalorians Vestara wasn't sure if Fett's words of bravado were mere vanity or well earned, especially given the almost absurd tales Mirta had recounted to Vestara of Fett, but nonetheless he seemed confident.  
"Maybe it's a good thing if HE at least believes it."

With Fett gone Vestara was finally free to clean herself as she originally came to do and after a short, but no less enjoyable, shower Vestara was greeted by Mirta who had returned to their quarters. They had seen little of one another and spoken less since the incident, mostly because Vestara was simply attempting to stay out of her way until the immediate issue, fixing the ship, was resolved. But right now Mirta seemed surprisingly calm, no agitation reflected on her face as was the usual recently.  
"Hello."  
"Hello."  
"I understand my grandfather spoke to you."  
"That he did."  
"Then I would like to ask you something. What exactly do you plan to do about Ship?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"I mean you have mentioned to me on several occasions you have had a great deal of trouble severing your ties to the Sith, to the part of your life that is connected to the Sith. And as of late you have been very indecisive on where you want to go, who you want to be, what you want to do. You have been trying to figure your life out but as I see it your not there yet, and you have a history of bad habits, another of which has reared it's head. So, I think we can agree it's not a matter of if but WHEN Ship comes at us again, and when that happens I need to know what your going to do about it, about him?"  
"Do you actually think my interests differ from yours at this point?"  
"I think your someone who has made far too many compromises in their life that now you don't know how to make a definitive decision. You have spent months trying to figure out whether or not you want to go back to the Sith. Months deciding on yes or no. You've made it clear you don't WANT to do so, but you feel like you don't have a choice because that's all you know, as if you don't have an entire life to learn more. You cling to a group of people that by your own admission have brought you nothing but pain and have even tried to kill you. KILL YOU! And now they are trying to kill you again, so what are you going to do? Are you actually going to help ,or are you going to do what you always do and make another stupid compromise and keep yourself on this never ending cycle of misery and loneliness? Whatever connection, or sense of loyalty you feel to this...group, let it go. The people you knew, the ones that taught you, that raised you, they are dead. If there actually were people who cared about you, legitimately cared about you and called themselves 'Sith' they are dead. These people trying to kill you now, they may refer to themselves by the same name but they are not the same, they care nothing for you and they only wish to use you."  
"You think I don't already know everything your saying?"  
"I think you do know it, you just need someone to say it out loud for once. And I think you need someone to tell this: just because your family is dead, doesn't mean you yourself are completely alone."  
Vestara simply stared wide-eyed in consideration of what Mirta just told her before heading over to her bed. "I'll do whatever you need me to do about him. If you want to blow him clear out of the sky and burn his metal corpse in a bonfire, fine. I honestly don't care what happens to Ship anymore, and I really don't care how livid the ones he serves may or may not be at his destruction, I just honestly do not care anymore. I'll even do whatever it is that your grandfather want's from me. And then I'm leaving."  
"While I am somewhat glad to hear the first part, I have to ask do you even know where you'll go?"  
"I have an idea, a thought of somewhere that may not be lost to me. And I guess I have from now until then to figure it out."  
"You do realize noone is actually forcing you to leave?"  
"What, have you become fond of me?"  
"I look out for my friends. That's all."  
"Is that what we are? I was under the impression I was a lost wayward individual with particular skills, that you admittedly exploited. Sure we talk about our abysmal histories, we live in the same room, eat our meals at the same table, and sleep on beds mere feet away from the other, but majority of the time you and I do not speak unless it's about 'work'. I mean you never even told me you were married until your husband called you up in the middle of the night. So when did we become friends?"  
"I suppose recently I've lost my ability to convey compassion as well as I used to. But your well being does mean something to me. I have killed people, and more, to keep you safe. So as I said before noone is forcing you to leave."  
"My presence may be welcome in your company, but it is no longer so aboard this vessel, just because noone is forcing me to leave right this second when there is still manual labor to be gotten out of me doesn't mean it won't happen soon. I made another mistake, and now I need to fix it and then try to get my life together, I no longer have to luxury of time. This is my doing, my fault not yours. But I will say this, Thank you."  
"For what?"  
"Saying your my friend, even if you didn't mean it, it felt nice for someone to say it."  
Mirta simply gave a brief yet honest smile as she gathered to tools Vestara had previously been using and departed leaving Vestara herself to rest, while she herself left to continue with the repairs on the ship.  
As Vestara herself drifted to sleep she recounts her and Mirta shared unusual experiences and the conversation they just had, as well as her own history with Ben, before finally uttering to herself. "I attract some unusual people don't I?"

 **A/N 3/7 of a large update.**


	31. Chapter 31

It took several more days before the repairs on the Kandosii were complete, Vestara made sure to spare no effort in putting in her fair share of work towards this. The crew still eyed her from a distance and were off-putting towards her, Mirta had given up on balming their animosity as Vestara had made it clear no one was convinced otherwise that their recent misfortune wasn't her fault, and they weren't entirely wrong. Though despite their incensed disdain noone acted out towards her, likely a result of word getting out that Fett still required her for something, no one was certain what this task might be, Mirta seemed to have a good idea and would only suggest that it was in everyone's best interest not to interfere with Fett's plan, and that was all the insight anyone would receive.  
As the repairs neared completion Vestara herself became aware of the sensation she usually felt whenever Ship was nearby it was distant, quite distant, but she could feel it's prescience. It occurred to her that while she possessed no general understanding of how Ship actually functioned his considerably smaller size would make it quit simpler for one to repair. She know gathered from the previous encounter that whoever was piloting Ship was determined to kill her, even go as far as to risk Ship itself. She still wasn't entirely sure why they would want her dead so greatly to that they would act so irresponsibly, the reasons she could guess seemed so small they couldn't possible prompt such dramatic responses, but they were beyond reason now. Now it was simply a matter of survival, and at the very least she did intend to survive.  
Many times she asked exactly how Fett planned to deal with Ship when it appeared again, but each time she was simply rebuked, it was to be expected that while she wasn't universally despised, she was not so trusted either. She blamed noone for their suspicion, she herself honestly wasn't sure what sort of information Ship could gleam form their connection, he seemed quite oblivious to a number of things, which brings that entire matter into question, but in the end some risks just aren't worth it. When the repairs had finally completed they simple launched the Kandosii and departed the world they had been so briefly residing on, the only instructions Vestara had been given were to go to a turret and wait.  
As they headed towards their destination she amused herself by staring off, quite literally, into space. Gazing upon the many stars trying to discern constellation's, though she knew none in this particular system it entertained her to look for identifiable shapes, and marveling at colorful nebula's in the distance. All the while she thought of Mirta's words from their previous conversation " _You cling to a group of people that by your own admission have brought you nothing but pain and have even tried to kill you._ " She most certainly had a point. Why couldn't she let them go? Is the Dark side truly that poisonous, that addictive? She doesn't want to go back to the Sith, of that Mirta is correct, they have hurt her in more ways than one. So why can't she just say no?  
" _Because of the finality of it?_ " She wondered. "Because once I do, it's done. That part of my life is over. Then again, isn't it already over? Hasn't Ship, or whoever is driving him, already severed those ties?" She thought back to what Ben had asked her on Coruscant " _What is it you want_?" At the time she had either been too embarrassed or scared to answer, she's always known what she wanted outside of her inner conflict between the two sides of the Force, but it was said conflict that seemed to interfere with that. If she tried, actually tried, to become a Jedi then a future with him might very well be possible, but if she chose to return to the dark side they would always be enemies, her superiors would no doubt demand she kill him if given the chance. And then their remained the third option, just don't side with either. It was not unheard of for a force-sensitive individual to forgo siding with either faction, and as Mirta had mentioned to her she could use her talents to follow any number of careers in life, a path that wouldn't put her at odds with Skywalker, that wouldn't make them enemies. It seemed that there were more options that lead to the possibility of the life she desired, so again she wondered, why was this life so hard to abandon?  
Eventually she decided it was best to save these thoughts for a later time, lest she become too distracted and not notice Ship coming towards them, and so she simply went back to admiring shapes and colors in space.  
Vestara was actually surprised by how long it was before she could sense Ship, they were quite a ways away from the planet, and any moon for that matter, before Ship began to present himself. The only world that was nearby was not readily available to them as it was encompassed by a rather large and brimful asteroid field that stretched quite a distance, the route they were taking provided them few places to stop and make port, and left them in wide open areas of space for most of the trip but according to Fett it was the fastest route to wherever they were going. It occurred to Vestara that it was probably part of Ship's plan to wait until now to appear that way should they wish to retreat again they would be incapable as the Kandosii would be far too large to travel through such a cramped space.  
" _Clever bastard._ " Vestara wasn't sure which direction he was coming from, just that he was.  
His presence was still quite distant, and she found the idea that he could literally spring forth from the field next to them quite irksome. She made many attempts to try and reach out and speak to the meditation sphere, but was once again only met with the shadowy image of a cloaked figure. No words were exchanged, no warnings given, and no threats made. Just the simple certainty that soon their conflict would begin anew.  
"Mirta, would the asteroid's make it difficult to locate Ship on radar?"  
Mirta's response came very quickly through their comm. "Unfortunately yes. Ship doesn't use any sort of engine propulsion, so most of the time he registers as something simply drifting though space, if it moved slowly enough between all of them, we likely wouldn't ever pick it up until he got close."  
Though honest this answer gave her no comfort.

Eventually though Ship did present itself, once the Kandosii had reached the point where it could not retreat without directing itself into open vacant space where they would find no safe haven's, Ship did present itself. Vestara could feel the presence of someone deeply immersed in the Dark side of the Force slowly creeping towards them, but still could not discern the direction, it gave a great uneasiness which distracted her greatly, a feeling she could only  
A single shot was fired from above them, directed at the Kandosii's engines, upon impact the vessel tremored. Everyone immediately took aim and opened fire upon Ship, but as was usually the case Ship's small size and versatile maneuverability made any success difficult.  
But then came something Vestara did not expect, something Mirta had most assuredly been keeping to herself.  
Another vessel suddenly appeared and engaged Ship. This one was small, not quite so much as Ship but it possessed the speed to keep up with him, and while Vestara wasn't completely familiar with it's make or model she was sure she had seen this one before. It did not take long for her to realize this was the same Ship she had seen docked at Fett's condominium on Nar Shaada. Boba Fett's personal Firespray-31, the Slave I.  
"Mirta, where did that come from?"  
"He was right under us the whole time, no one can tell the difference when it gets so close."  
"...Fair enough I guess."

While the Slave I did not possess the exact same amount of maneuverability as Ship did it could certainly match it's speed and Fett's years of experience piloting it made up for any of its shortcomings. Ship very soon found itself incapable of safely balancing it's assault on the Kandosii and evading it's own assailment from Fett all at once and realized it had to focus on only one, Fett himself.  
For a while the two seemed locked into a stalemate, Ship's capability of moving in virtually every direction made it difficult, but not impossible, for Fett to make any completely accurate shots. And while Ship was capable of bringing down Vessels the size of the Kandosii, it had yet to engage anyone who could match it's movement, nor had it ever had to contend with a pilot as talented as Fett. Truly Ship had proven itself to be both versatile and deadly in the past, it was likely how the meditation sphere had outlived an era that died millennia ago, but it wasn't perfect. Even with someone giving it commands from within the laws of probability dictated that eventually it would be bested.  
Ultimately the distraction of Fett's presence played it's part as the Kandosii successfully connected several shots on Ship, though not enough to leave any lasting damage. It became clear to both Ship and it's unknown pilot that circumstances present were less than ideal and something would have to change. Over the next few moment several more shots hit their mark and without hesitation Ship ceased it's pursuit of Fett and took flight for the nearby asteroids, with the Slave I following very closely behind.  
"Mirta, I don't mean to insinuate that your grandfather is senile but chasing Ship into such a crowded space is not particularly wise!"  
"It is if that's what ba'buir wanted to happen."  
"...Come again?"  
"Why do you think we took this route?"  
"...Enlighten me."

Back and forth, to and fro between the asteroids the two flew, Fett ever so diligently pursuing Ship, who had to take great care to not only avoid colliding with the asteroids themselves but avoid the continuous relentless stream of cannon fire between the two of them. Ship was not used to such direct pursuit's, not used to being pursued by one so unyielding, and possessing of a formidable reputation, especially through such hectic terrain. All in all such direct conflicts weren't exactly Ship's primary purpose. Their chase continued following in a steady pattern of Ship's retreat with Fett chasing while firing continuously in his direction, the situation became almost amusing to Fett himself after a few minutes,however the simple game of cat and mouse had to eventually come to an end. An opportunity eventually presented itself as the two came upon a group of small asteroids tightly adjoining each other with only a small gap in the center, small enough for Ship to pass through with only mild difficulty, but not the Slave I. This didn't go unnoticed by Ship's single occupant.  
"Make for that opening."  
" _I will likely sustain damage in the process._ "  
"I forget the part where I care, get out of his line of fire,NOW!"  
Whether Ship maintained a sense of self-preservation or not mattered little as it was compelled by it's current master to obey, and made way for the small opening. Fett was not blind to their plan and responded accordingly, firing two concussive missiles his vessel was armed with towards the narrow opening. Ship, still compelled by it's pilots orders, accelerated towards the gap to try and outrun them ultimately making it's way through right as they struck their target, while the asteroids were demolished Ship was able to push itself through suffering only minor glancing damage along its outer plating as it grinded against the asteroids themselves.  
Between the explosion and the flying debris from the asteroids Fett couldn't discern whether Ship had been destroyed, but ultimately found it highly unlikely. Making his way around Fett found no sign of Ship but hardly found this surprising, given it's size there were plenty of places for it to hide.  
"Well then, I'll just have to make you come to me."  
Fett directed the Slave I deeper into the Asteroid belt leaving the vicinity of where he and Ship had separated. For only a few short moments he seemed to be alone before a small sudden flash of fiery light burst out next to him. Appearing to be a small explosion most likely caused by Ship firing at, and missing, Fett. Even though Fett was trying to destroy Ship himself, Fett didn't think it could resist the idea that Fett had made himself appear vulnerable. With the situation now reversed with Fett being pursued Ship had unknowingly given him an unforeseen advantage for as it grew closer to the Slave I itself a small compartment along the back end of the Firespray opened launching a small cylindrical object towards Ship direction. Fett nostalgically laughed as he pondered if this would work better than it did when his father tried this same tactic on Obi-Wan Kenobi.  
The cylinder had a large blue ring shaped light in the center that seemed to grow ever so brighter with each passing second until finally the device exploded giving off a bright translucent blue light before, rather peculiarly, the explosion seemed to collapse upon itself and shrink down to where it began. Ship only had a fraction of a second to try to discern the purpose of this unusual device before the collapsed explosion immediately released an immense concussive shockwave that, for lack of any better term, obliterated all surrounding asteroids.  
The space that Ship now occupied had become a blizzard of stone as pieces of debris were thrown about in every direction, bits of rock struck Ship from literally everywhere. The asteroids that weren't destroyed by the initial shockwave were thrown about causing them to collide with one another, and shatter, and their broken fragments further colliding with even more surrounding asteroids setting off a chain reaction of absolute destruction, creating more and more havoc for Ship to circumvent. For the first time Ship found itself disoriented, it could not visually see anything, and every alternative means could not give accurate readings with so many moving objects around. When Ship did finally extricate itself from the chaos caused by the explosive charge left by Fett, when it finally managed to outmaneuver the literal surrounding madness it only found another charge lying in wait. And thus the shear and utter pandemonium repeated itself.  
Again the immense shockwave demolished everything nearby, it was only through the fact that Ship could literally move in any given direction that it avoided getting caught in the blast itself. With each passing second the chaos grew as each nearby asteroid shifted into one another and broke apart, and soon the debris from the previous charge mixed in with that of this one, culminating into even more for Ship try to escape from. Ship and it's pilot found themselves grasping at any direction to try and extricate themselves from their current plight, any direction to freedom. Bits and pieces of stone pelted Ships exterior, denting and eventually cracking the outer plating, as it flew forward to what it believed to be an opening, an escape from the mayhem Fett had trapped it in.  
Bit by bit, inch by inch it drew closer, Ship wasn't capable of feeling anxiety but in this particular situation it certainly could have, as well as disappointment. Before it could escape through a portion of it's surroundings not yet affected by Fett's trap, two small explosions erupted nearby Ship and where it was heading completely interrupting its flee. Ship had not been able to determine the exact direction of where they had come from, but held no doubt as to whom the pair originated from. Ship was forced to veer itself into a different direction, taking another route through the field, only to discover all too late another of Fett's traps in the form of a third seismic charge waiting within the new path it had taken.  
Once again if Ship had been capable of emulating disappointment, it most certainly would be.  
Time and time again Fett repeated this disastrous process, and with every passing instance it began to occur to Ship the truth of it's current circumstances, Fett's actions were not spontaneous, they were not random nor simply advantageous of the moment. This was a single person ambush. Fett had arranged for the Kandosii to travel along this particular route, with Fett himself lying in wait. When Ship inevitably showed himself he made sure to cause enough problems that Ship would have to withdrawal, and the asteroid field was somewhere it could retreat to and stalk it's prey. But Fett chased after it, and the moment Ship, or it's pilot, got so greedy as to try and try and kill Fett himself he turned the environment itself into a weapon. Ship now a much better grasp of what made him so dangerous.  
But Firesparays are small vessels, and their weapons compliments are small, eventually the Slave I ran out of seismic charges, missiles, torpedoes, and all other extra forms of ammunition, but all of this was not before Ship itself suffered greatly at Fett's hand. Ship had now lost all interest in killing Fett, and for the most part no longer concerned itself with whether or not it would succeed in killing Vestara, it recognized Boba Fett was indeed a threat and now simply meant to retreat.  
Ship held historical data concerning Boba Fett and thus understood from his reputation he had toppled foes one did not expect any ordinary human to. For in the end that was what he has, though a clone he was not force sensitive, and he had no genetic augmentations, it was the will of his father that he be perfectly normal. By definition he was normal, and that was perhaps what adds to fear he produced, the idea that he could have been even worse. All in all Ship now understood that perhaps one of his greatest advantages has always been that people underestimate him, to their own peril.

But what sort of threat Fett truly posed wasn't the focus of Ship's attention now, now it as well as its pilot focused on escape. If they could clear the asteroid field and reach open space they could escape, in open unencumbered space Ship could outrun virtually anything. But escape itself proved most difficult, not only because of Fett's own tenacity, but as it slowly dawned on Ship and it's passenger, Fett did not come alone. More than once Ship attempted to simply make haste and leave the field itself only to be met with artillery fire, all the while aware that Fett was still pursuing them. All in all this did not come off as surprising, be it the urgency of the threat Ship posed if left unabated, or the simple personal nature of Fetts animosity towards Ship it made sense Fett would bring some assistance, especially if he intended to see through with Ship's destruction. Because of interference from the asteroids themselves Ship could not determine what make and model it's secondary assailant was piloting, merely that it was fast enough to keep up with the two of them and that it had enough firepower to prevent Ship from leaving its present confines. In truth Ship did not know if it was single vessel following them, one with the authority Fett held, even without his title as Mand'alore, could certainly command great numbers.

Onward and onward they flew, Ship doing its best to avoid the consistent gunfire coming from the Slave I all the while trying to avoid getting caught in the wake of any additional fire that could literally come in any direction, all the while trapped in a cage. Perhaps the only thing keeping it going was it's inability to experience hopelessness or despair, it drove itself further and further, Ship was patient, after all it had waited countless years for someone to find it on Zoist. Its single passenger grew restless, shouting for Ship to find some means of escape, Ship tried to reason with him, reason that exposing themselves too soon would only leave them vulnerable to attack. But in the end as it was designed, Ship had no choice but to acquiesce to the commands of it pilot. When they reached a juncture where the asteroids were thin and held numerous openings Ship could vacate through, it knew departing immediately would only draw the attention of Fett aide, if they were to survive they would first need to put distance between themselves and Fett and given the now greater free space they had this was doable.  
But no.  
As Ship theorized it's passenger was too hasty and it was compelled to exit the moment it could.  
And as Ship suspected this only played further into Fetts hand.  
Ship could now identify the second vessel as an AIAT/i, which Fett was known to own under the designation Slave IV, a particular vessel that while holding superior armaments to a Firespray, possessed limited maneuverability and certainly did not possess the speed to keep up with Ship. It seemed as if something had begun to finally work in Ship's favor, the Slave I only barely paled in mobility to Ship and the Slave IV held no chance of keeping up with it, and now that they were clear of the asteroid fields confines escape seemed possible.  
That was until Ship detected a crimson torrent of plasma heading towards it, all stemming from each of the Kandosii's cannons. The Kandosii had flown undetected towards this particular juncture and waited, waited for Fett to chase Ship out right into their gunfire. Ship could avoid any fire from the Kandosii, but a vessel of that size covered a wide berth, limiting the direction Ship could fly.  
Between the three vessels fireing upon it Ship there was seemed little chance of escape, everything Ship had done so far fell right into Boba Fett's hands. The initial attack itself was anticipated, the route was chosen to Fett's specifications, leading Ship into believing it had gained an advantage in pursuing Fett, and wandering seemingly aimlessly through the field only to escape into a barrage of gunfire.  
Nothing had gone the way Ship desired, nothing would. There was a world nearby, now that they had traveled through the asteroid field it was nearby accessible. Flying straight towards it would leave Ship more vulnerable than it already was, but there was no real alternative. If it tried to fight it would be destroyed before it could deal with any single one of the three vessels assaulting it. And at the moment there were simply no other routes of retreat. Trying it's best to avoid the continuous strafe of gunfire, only taking glancing impacts that chipped away at it's already fractured outer plating, Ship dove for the planet as fast as it was capable of moving.  
While the two larger vessels couldn't keep pace, the Slave I was able to stay close by, maintaining a constant threat to Ship. Desperation soon took over and Ship continued, not slowing down even when it reached the planet, even as it began to pass through the atmosphere. It found itself mimicking the same careless maneuver the Kandosii had done to escape Ship just weeks earlier.  
The irony was not lost to it.  
The heat of it's reentry caused the outer plating of Ship's structure to warp, bend and splinter off. His 'eye' began to crack and heat began to enter it's cockpit causing discomfort to it's passenger. But it did not slow down, doing so would give too great an opportunity to its assailants. Soon Ship could not be seen anymore by Fett who had indeed stopped just shortly above the exosphere. His comm buzzed as Mirta's voice came through.  
"Is it finally dead?"  
"I doubt it. I saw no sign of an explosion, and am picking up no debris in the lower atmosphere. Until I see otherwise I'm considering that thing still functional, and a potential threat if someone should find a way to fix it."

Back aboard the Kandosii Mirta approached Vestara, who was still seated at the turret she was manning. "You ready to take care of an old friend?"  
Vestara did not immediately answer, nor did she turn to Mirta, she simply replied silently. "I know what I need to do."

 **A/N 4/7 of a large update, again not too thrilled with the narration of this chapter, it came out somewhat like gibberish as I was writing it but upon second glance it reads better than it did at first. Still could have been better.**


	32. Chapter 32

The Kandosii and the Slave I set down upon the planet Ship had fled to, the terrain was mostly mountainous, and the world had its share of canyons. For something the size of Ship, if it still functioned, there were plenty of places to hide. From what they could tell the atmosphere of the planet was breathable to all parties concerned and there seemed to be nothing inherently harmful about pursuing Ship further. However because of the expansive canyons stretching across the vicinity they deemed most likely to be where Ship would have set down, they wouldn't be able to find it or its single passenger within their large vessels, while the Slave I itself was relatively small, it was still roughly twice the size of Ship.

Mirta and small number of other Mando'ade began arming themselves, if they were to find and be rid of it, circumstance demanded they do so on foot. The majority of the crew stayed in the event that Ship tried to flee, Fett himself had The Slave I stay airborne under operation of another while he personally sought out Ship.  
When it seemed that everyone was finishing their preparations Mirta realized quite abruptly that Vestara was nowhere to be seen. "Where did Sevara get off to?"  
Rook began walking towards her holding a rather large trunk that Mirta recognized as hers "Near as I can tell, shes no longer onboard. But then again its a large ship so, can't be too sure. I did however find this in your quarters." Rook placed the trunk down rather curtly causing it to pop open. "Empty. What was in this again?"  
"...My Ion disruptor."  
"So...your friend appears to be missing, with a firearm they makes people cease to exist, while we are tracking a talking sphere that tried to kill us?"  
"Disruptors main function are to disable machinery, it is technically a spaceship. I don't think we should jump to any conclusions."  
"Really?" Rook stared unconvinced while scratching the side of his chin. "And your faith in her has never been misguided? She's never let you down?"  
"It's trying to kill her too, what does she gain from turning on us?"  
"To be blunt, I've learned one irrefutable truth in this line of work, people are stupid. And you should never underestimate how stupid they can be when they are desperate. Tell me has her desperation ever led her to do something she oughtn't? And on that note, are you willing to bet anyone present's lives on the idea shes just gone hunting alone with a dangerous and illegal firearm?"  
"I'll say it once, shes my responsibility. If she causes a problem I will deal with it, and I will deal with her. But know that I also will not allow harm to be unjustly brought to her simply because you feel like jumping to conclusions."  
"Fine...but I intend to hold you to that, IF she becomes a problem, you deal with her."

Vestara did not like wandering through the canyons alone, she especially did not like leaving so secretively. She knew her leaving so suddenly with Mirta's disruptor would only be construed as suspicious. But Ship was her problem, Ben had spoken to her about not seeing things through, and so she intended to see this problem through. She had brought it upon Mirta and the others, so she intended to fix it.  
In one hand Vestara held the disruptor, primarily tucked under her arm, at the trigger. And with her other she held rather tightly onto the crimson Lignan crystal she possessed. Vestara knew that she couldn't control Ship, she couldn't even force him to communicate with her as long as Ship was being controlled by another. Whoever was piloting Ship was strong enough to keep Ship free from whatever influence she had over it, if she ever had any at all. However she could not forget how she had made Ship pause in the midst of his initial assault on them, but doing so required her to delve deeper into the dark side than she wanted. To this end she figured using the Lignan to strengthen her connection to the dark side would at the very least allow her to locate Ship much easier. She had as of late begun to feel some sort of curious sensation when Ship was near, she would simply know. She couldn't always tell, mostly his presence was belied by their communication with one another, but now for whatever reason she was more and more aware of his presence. She wasn't sure if this was intentional on Ship's part, or if recent events had changed how she perceived her surroundings.  
But why wasn't important.  
True to her theory she could sense Ship through the Force but it was muddled, she could only tell the general vicinity. Occasionally she would get a flicker of an image in her head, after several times she figured it was a view of the canyon itself from within a cave, presumably what was immediately in front of Ship, what Ship could 'see' if he could see at all.  
Her search though the nearby canyon wasn't long, though it was cramped and not suitable for any of the other Mandalorian vessel to travel through she saw a few select places, caves and fissures, that Ship could conceal itself in. Though the selection of places was not particularly large and as she grew closer towards Ship the image she saw grew clearer. After only a brief time she discovered a small clearing large enough to accommodate Ship's size that seemed to match the mental image. Curiously and humorously as she walked through this clearing the image she was receiving from Ship changed, eventually she was IN it. Turning to match the direction she gave herself a chuckle at the concept that she was staring at herself through the 'eyes' of another and found it all humorously paradoxical.  
She found herself staring at a rather large crevice in the side of a mountain completely obscured by its own shadow, all in all it wasn't the greatest hiding place, but it was likely the quickest way to accommodate itself on such short notice. Vestara couldn't see Ship directly, but regardless of whether she knew he was there she knew better that to just walk into a dark place where a homicidal machine lay waiting. Vestara had learned that many strange things can take place at any moment in the vast universe and it always helped to be prepared, especially when traveling with Mando.  
From within the satchel she had at her side she retrieved a small flash grenade she borrowed from Mirta's personal armament and threw it towards the crevice. Ordinarily within closed quarters the flash and reverberating explosion would momentarily blind and deafen her but outside with it set off in a partially enclosed space separate from her, it simply released a loud pop and a bright flash momentarily illuminating the space Ship occupied. Noone exited the space so she concluded Ships passenger had already fled or was dead/unconscious within it, but the brief flash partially revealed to her the shape of Ship, leaned against several rocks.  
She remained cautious as she approached tucking the Lignan crystal into her pocket while retrieving her lightsaber and stepped slowly towards Ship. When she finally reached the point here she could properly see him she was startled by how little she recognized it. Several portions of his 'wings' were either broken off or warped presumably from the heat of the atmosphere, his 'eye' was almost completely shattered to the point where she could not fathom how the entire window did not simply fall out, and the entirety of its outer plating was scorched black. Portions cracked,bent or completely splintered off revealing burnt circuitry underneath. She knew Ship was durable but she could not comprehend how it was not outright destroyed. Then again it had lasted countless centuries in storage with no apparent degradation to it functions.

When she finally stood right in front of it Ship spoke, much to her surprise as she had had wondered if he even could.  
" _Lady...K..hai._ "  
"You sure can take a hit, I will give you that."  
" _I...do not...understand. I do not understand...how events...have unfolded as they ha..ve._ "  
"Well for starters you tried to kill me, and Mirta. I mean just trying to kill her was what really screwed you over. Which brings me to my question, why? Were you really that upset that I wasn't bringing the services of her and her grandfather to the Sith."  
" _I...can function independently...I may act of my own acc...ord. But my actions may be influenced...you know this._ "  
"You were ordered to kill us?"  
" _You have been...watched...for some time. Those who had their gaze upon you...no longer felt you were of any poten...tial value. Earning favor with the Mand'alor would have swayed their...opinion. You continued to bide you time...on unimportant matters. It became clear...your resolve was shaken, and...your dedication to the Sith...fractured._ "  
"I never once said I was going to get Mirta or her grandfather to work for you. You put those words in my mouth. Why? Because you actually thought I would do that, or was that your way of forcefully suggesting what you thought I SHOULD do? Just like you keep insisting I am a Sith Lord."  
" _You are a-_ "  
"NO! No I am not. I am not a Sith Lord just because you 'say I am'. That was how you put it, yes? I am what you say I am. Honestly I don't understand you obsession with me. Honestly I wonder if my life would have turned out better I had never met you!"  
" _You receive recognition...you receive a title of distinction. And yet...you deny it...why?_ "  
"...Let me ask you why? Why me? Why did you pick me? Out of an entire planet full of Sith, an entire order filled with much more experienced Sith, many who unlike me had officially started their training, you picked me, why?"  
" _Your tribe...was petty...arrogant...vain. They all possessed delusions of grandeur, foolish ambitions of con...quest, all the while oblivious...to how...unimportant they were. How...little they...mattered. They were...each and every one of them...consumed with a sense of...self impor..tance._ "  
"And astonishingly enough, I wanted to be just like them. A petty, vain, arrogant fool just like my father. So what was different about me?"  
" _YOU wanted...to grow...to evolve. You had not yet become...filled with their meager ambition. You wanted to become...more. You wanted...to become a master...you wanted to become strong. You showed the most potential...to embody the true essence of the...Sith. You needed only...to be tempered...before they marred you._ "  
"The most potential...to embody the true essence of the Sith?" Vestara chuckled as she lowered her head. "I'm honestly not sure if that's a compliment or an insult."  
" _It...was meant...as a compliment._ "  
"We'll just mark this as a moment when expectation and reality don't match."  
" _I still don't understand. How events...have deviated so._ "  
"Because you forget, I may have been raised a Sith, but I am still a PERSON! I still feel, I still think. I still want like anyone else. I have dreams and desires just like any other person."  
" _And what is it...you...want?_ "  
"Honestly, I still don't know. When i met you I was...what? Twelve, thirteen years. Still very much a child. And depending on who you ask that still describes me. Do you really think I know what I want in life, where I am going? I have only ever had people pulling on me in every direction trying to make me choose what THEY want. My tribe, Abeloth, YOU! I don't know what is real anymore, what is my choice and what is someone else's choice that they made for me."  
" _Is Skywalker...any different? Did they...not want you to join...them, the Jedi?_ "  
"...I suppose they did. But you want to know how they differ? They gave me a choice. If I said no, they would have accepted that."  
" _Are you truly...so foolish that you believe they would ever...accept you among them...if you still called your...self a Sith?_ "  
Vestara thought about that, it was a fair point. But then she remembered everything Ben had said about his family, his mother, his grandfather, and his cousin. They had done terrible things he said, but Vestara still remembered Jaina speaking of her brother with a look of longing, she could see she missed her twin. Ben never talked about his mother,likely because her memory is still too recent and painful, but he loved her. No different than any child loved their mother. There were indeed troubled people in his family, but they loved them all the same. Even if it was hard for them to do so. "You know what Ship? Maybe I am foolish enough to believe that. Whatever bad blood exists between me and them has nothing to do with where I come from, that's something I did myself."  
" _Is this...what stays your hand? The young...Skywalker? Your...lingering sentiment...for him? Your refusal...to abandon these...feelings? Is this what...keeps you from returning to the Sith?_ "  
"I haven't returned because I have decided that is no longer the path I wish to take."  
" _And still...I do not understand._ "  
"You see so much, you teach so much. But you comprehend so little. What you fail to understand is the sheer hypocrisy of everything you teach. You teach apprentices how to channel the Dark Side of the Force, teach them how become true Sith, guide them on the rules and guidelines of the Sith order, that everything you want will be at your fingertips when you truly master the Dark Side.  
But at what point in all of this does anyone live their own life?  
You try to shape me into what you want, what you think I should be, but in the end it is still MY life. You tell me I can have the power to claim everything I want, all I need to do is kill what I love. You teach that Sith train to surpass their masters only so they can teach another how to kill them. You decide how I live, and where I go, but it is still MY life! And I have no intention of following some ridiculous outdated philosophy of training my own murderer, of molding my eventual assassin. I've no intention of destroying that which I covet, and those I care for.  
Which in a sense makes me ,ironically, too selfish to be a Sith.  
I do not seek an empty existence living and acting upon the whims of another, knowing my time will eventually end at the hands of my own peers. Either I die in pointless battles for selfish causes, or those I trust kill me, what more could one ask for, right?  
But no, I want to live, really live.  
Once I wanted to be just like my father, he was not to most powerful or highest ranking of our tribe, but he was strong and he was respected by his peers, to some small extent the name Gavar Khai meant something. I wanted to be like that, I wanted to be recognized, I wanted to be respected. But the people I respected and admired sold themselves to a monster and let that abomination burn our world to the ground! I don't wish to follow in the footsteps of the Old Sith order where the only constant is treachery itself. I don't wish to take after a foolish self-important Tribe that destroyed itself. And I will not sign my life over to whatever Order you speak of that only hides in shadows. I don't know where I an headed but I want the freedom to find out. But right now I want to live, I want to stop knowing only pain and blood and find peace, to be happy for the first time in my life. I want to grow old and maybe fall in love and have a family, which I guess in that regard I am just like my father. But I will not sell myself as others before me have. I WILL live."  
" _...I see now...I see I was wrong about you. You are far too consumed...with your own life, to become...more. You held such potential...but you choose to waste it...waste it pursuing the young Skywalker._ "  
"He isn't the reason I turn away from you. But I would be lying if I said the life I want did not involve him in it."  
" _In the end...you are nothing but a foolish child...unworthy of recognition...unworthy to lead. But we do finally find common ground._ "  
"How so."  
" _You most certainly are NOT a Sith Lord._ "  
Vestara chuckled with a wide grin upon her face as she armed the disruptor in her hands. "Now your just flattering me."  
" _Know this...if I expire here...they...the Sith...will pursue you._ "  
"Oh, I have no doubt they find you to be of some value. You have a variety of nifty functions any of them might find useful."  
" _You...are ruled by your emotions...You act upon your whims...the Jedi...the Skywalkers...do you truly believe they will accept you?_ "  
"After what I've done? Probably not. But I won't know until I try, right?"  
" _Even if you do find forgiveness...you will never belong...how many times have you betrayed them? You say you wish...to live a life free...of treachery...and yet it is all you have known...all you have lived._ "  
Vestara impatiently rose the disruptor to aim at Ship. "Do you have a point your getting at any time soon?"  
" _One day...circumstance will turn against you...and you will betray them...as you always have...though you are a foolish child...you are not as they are...you are far too darkened. And if...I expire you will have nowhere...to turn. You will face...only...death._ "  
"Well, thank you so much for your vote of confidence, your touching words have been noted and duly ignored."  
" _Such a foolish child...such a tragic waste._ "  
"One last thing, where is your friend? I know someone was piloting you, that's who ordered you to kill me, right? Where are they?"  
" _I cannot...say._ "  
"Can't or won't?"  
" _At moments present I do not know...but I am still... under the compulsion to reveal to you...nothing._ "  
"So they're alive and close enough that you can't disobey them. For someone who can't reveal anything to me, your doing a terrible job at it."  
" _That little information...tells you...nothing._ "  
"It tells me I wouldn't have to look very far to deal with that particular nuisance."  
" _You could not stop them from firing upon you vessel...do you truly believe you could kill them in combat?_ "  
"What are you talking about? You stopped, we almost destroyed you!"  
" _Your actions...only momentarily overrode their influence...but only by immersing yourself...within the Dark Side...all you succeeded in doing...was counteracting them...my actions were halted...by another._ "  
Vestara paused at the notion that someone helped them, and now wondered if she could in fact kill Ship's pilot. But she quickly brushed this thought aside, he could be telling her the truth, or his master could be using Ship to feed her misinformation. It didn't matter, Vestara wasn't alone on this planet, if the Sith did turn up she would deal with them.  
"Goodbye Ship." Before Ship could even reply Vestara fired the disruptor at Ship, blue sparks momentarily flickered across his outer shell as a small puff of smoke emerged from Ships exposed circuitry. After a brief pause Vestara fired again. "Just making sure." She stood for a moment longer listening, but heard nothing, no mental speech from Ship, and the peculiar sensation she received when she knew he was near was gone. Ship was dead.

Vestara promptly left the cave and headed towards a nearby cliff side to stare out at the setting sun. She looked around briefly to see that she was alone before finally disarming the disruptor and reaching down into her satchel. From within she produced the small crimson Lignan crystal that formerly occupied her lightsaber. She rolled the small gem around in the palm of hand for a moment as she thought upon it. She remembered how she had seen others become increasingly violent through the addictive nature of Lignan, how their behavior would progressively change through the crystal expanding their connection to the Dark Side and then thought about herself. When Skywalker took her as his apprentice she kept it, a small bauble that kept her connected to the Dark Side, to the Sith, and her past. She thought long about how it might have been best for her to get rid of it the moment Luke accepted her, surely she could have found another, or made one herself. She had long begone to wonder if the crystal had influenced her actions during the Sith attack on Coruscant, or during their encounter with the Rhak-skuri, if she had gotten rid of the crystal would her actions have been different? But she chose to cast these thoughts aside, the past was past and no matter what the cause her actions were her own and she needed to take responsibility. "No more excuses."  
Vestara bounced the crystal around in her hand a few times before finally clenching it tight and throwing it as hard as she could towards the sunset. She watched as the small crystal emitted a crimson light from the sun as it sank further and further down into the canyon, before finally letting out a sigh of relief, though still undecided as far as the future was concerned she had at least severed her ties to the Sith, completely. From now on, she had nothing to blame, nothing to hide behind. From now on her actions were her own.  
She decided it was time to return to Mirta and inform her Ship was no more, and return Mirta's disruptor, she likely wasn't happy she took it. As she turned away from the cliff side to leave however she found she was no longer alone. A single cloaked figure stood in her path, for a moment she suspected it to be Ship's pilot, but noticed that whoever it was wore a dark brown cloak rather than the Sith's typical black. Also the figure appeared to be her approximate height, which seemed slightly odd. As the figure rose their hands towards their hood to reveal their face, Vestara quickly drew her lightsaber, but did not ignite it, the figure paused only briefly before continuing. Vestara stared only in bewilderment as the person before her revealed a very familiar set of Sky blue eyes and bright fiery red hair. As improbable as it seemed she once again found herself before her former lover, Ben.  
"You have GOT to be kidding me!"

 **A/N 5/7 of a large update.  
** **And on that note 'ding dong Ship is dead'!**


	33. Chapter 33

Vestara stared in utter disbelief as Ben simply smiled and waved at her."Hi."  
" _Hi? HE JUST SHOWS UP IN THE MOST RANDOM PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE AND ALL HE HAS TO SAY IS 'HI'?!_ "  
Vestara immediately ran over and began forcefully frustratingly poking him with her finger over and over again as if to ensure he was in fact real and not some illusion or hallucination.  
"Okay this was funny at first, but now it kinda hurts, can you stop? Please?"  
"Explain! How the KRIFF are you here in this place RIGHT NOW? I am only here on this planet by chance...by accident, so how are YOU? How are you just here? I don't see how it's possible...at all!"  
"Short answer, I followed you."  
"...Can you explain that in a way that doesn't come off as creepy?"  
"Alright I'll give you that. Well first, when you and Mirta shot me-"  
"She shot you and I apologized on her behalf."  
"When SHE shot me and BOTH of you left the planet, I took notice that you were both traveling within a Crusader-class Corvette, albeit a slightly smaller design than standard models. I figured it was customized for conventional use, which made it easier to pick out in the hangars registry, especially since it was registered using Mirta's clearance. Afterwards I went back to the senate records and tried to confirm your story, but believe you me it was not easy, the files were hardly in any state to get any information. But I dug a little deeper, it seemed to me your time was cut short at the archives so maybe there was something to be found." Vestara became somewhat hopeful that Ben had something that would be of assistance to Mirta but quickly noticed from his demeanor this wasn't the case. "Many files from that time were mishandled, the Empire did so love to re-write history to paint themselves as the heroes of the story. But, a name did catch my attention, Kal Skirata. He was a training officer for the clone troopers for during this time, very protective of his men apparently."  
"Why would that name mean anything to you?"  
Ben smiled as he knew she was being coy. "Because Jaina mentioned a 'Venku Skirata' when she was training under Fett to fight her Brother. It was the name 'Skirata' the stood out. Now again the files were incomplete but from what I could learn of this person he certainly seemed like the sort who would have made, or at least had some part in making, a cure for the nano-killer, if a cure did truly exist. I was taking much of what you said on faith. So I took a guess, where would someone so protective of his troops put information so sensitive where the Empire likely wouldn't find it? Likely not somewhere personal, Mando are very protective of their families, but somewhere it would be watched and, if need be, under armed guard. Then I thought if he cared so much about his men, maybe he trusted them all the same, so perhaps this information, if it did exist, was somewhere where he or someone under his command would have been stationed outside of Imperial space. And that was most likely where you and Mirta would be going."  
Vestara stood with her head cocked to the side somewhat baffled by how he made these connections. "So...wait...How could have possibly known where those places would have been?"  
"Mandalore IS part of the New Republic and the Galactic Alliance, so it was just a matter of asking the right people. Which when you have family with a long history in politics you have an idea of WHO the right people are."  
"Okay, family with connections I get, but...all the other stuff...you guessed?"  
"A little. But lets be honest aren't we always guessing just a little when we track somebody?"  
"So you guessed that Kal Skirata was important, you guessed that he might have made a cure, you guessed that he might have hidden the information with one of his subordinates and then you guessed that we knew all this and were heading in that direction?"  
"When you say it out loud like that you make me sound like an idiot."  
"I don't make you SOUND like anything!"  
"I would like to point out I found you weeks ago, and you didn't even notice. So really who's the real idiot?"  
"Wait...weeks?"  
"Yes. After all that guessing I actually found you. I have simply been waiting for an opportunity to present itself where you and I might be able to talk."  
"Why didn't you just try comming me, instead of stalking me like a creep?"  
"One, you said you were helping a friend, I figured it would be rude to impede that and I haven't actually SEEN you do anything illegal."  
"If your worried about legality then don't ask about what happened before Coruscant."  
"Two, while you and Mirta might be friends, Mirta and Jaina might have once been friends... but me and the rest of my family don't have the most gracious of relationships with Fetts family. I thought keeping my distance during something so personal to be prudent."  
"I've heard about all of that, but with you wha-"  
"I was there." Ben was quick to cut her off. "When her mother died. I was there when my cousin slammed her head against a table until her skull cracked and she bled into her brain. I was there and I didn't do anything. So you tell me, do you think Mirta wants to see me?"  
"...Nev..I..um, never mind. Sorry."  
"All that said, I felt it better to simply wait for an appropriate moment to present itself. Then Ship attacked your vessel."  
Vestara remembered Ships words, that it wasn't her that had stopped it, but rather another, Ben says he had been following them for weeks without notice, and he had piloted Ship before. "Ben did you..." As she paused he stared inquisitively. "Are you the one that made Ship stand still during the attack?"  
"It wasn't the first time I made it disobey it's master."  
"You...you've overridden it's order before?"  
"I made it stand still once, when it was being piloted by my Cousins Sith Master. Almost got her killed."  
She understood what he was saying, but also understood what that would entail, and found it difficult to reconcile those two facts. "How could you-"  
"I already told you. My cousin made me someone I have to work at not being. But for a moment that day, when you were under attack, I let myself be that person one more time."  
"But why?"  
"The alternative was you might die."  
Vestara was admittedly shocked by that answer, that he might have interfered with Ships assault just to save her. She was under the impression they were not on decent terms with one another at all, but now she found herself uncertain. "If I may, I don't recall us receiving any outside assistance during the assault, I'm grateful you made him stand still, if only for a second, but was that all you did?"  
"I figured a vessel of that size would be able to handle him, especially after the aid I already gave. I underestimated just how much damage Ship was able to do to you, I remember you telling me Ship had brought down enough vessels to supply the Sith with an entire armada but I figured the company you traveled with were no strangers to battle. If any one could have handled him it would have been you and Mirta."  
"Ship was tiny compared to anything, it would have been like a dog swiping at a flea. A flea that could blow a hole through solid metal!"  
"You say was."  
Vestara simply gestured towards the dark crevice behind her while still keeping her eye on Ben."He won't bother anyone, ever."  
Ben gave a quick glance towards the darkened cavern, before looking down at the disruptor she held under her arm. "I see." He wasn't sure why, but some part of him was glad, if Ship was gone, if she had done this of her own will, then maybe his hope wasn't in vain.  
"But, I should warn you whoever was controlling Ship may still be around, it wouldn't tell me where though."  
"I shall bare that in mind, though given the company chasing them, I doubt your would be assailant will try anything." Ben briefly stared out into the sunset over the canyon itself as if to impress upon her just how difficult it would be for her to find the unknown figure.  
"Alright, so I think I understand how you found me, I get how it is your here right now, but the one thing you still haven't quite mentioned was why? Why are you here?"  
"To talk."  
"Talk? About what?"  
"Me, you, the past, recent events. I had wanted to speak to you before, but when I got the chance I simply vented my frustration on several different matters. It wasn't fair to you, and it wasn't what I wanted. I have also learned I was wrong about some things, and my errors have had ramifications. I wanted us to at least be able to talk and make peace on certain matters."  
"Like what?"  
"Like, for example, I believe you were telling the truth when you said you were only pretending to attack my aunt and niece." Vestara was taken back by this statement. "Me and my father looked at the security footage with someone we trust, a very dear friend of my mothers who happens to be something of a weapons expert, so his opinion on the matter has great standing. It is his belief that ,true to what you say, that explosive could not have hit that exact spot unless it was guided. You aimed for that particular location AWAY from Allana. The fact that my uncle was injured was simple misfortune."  
"But, what brought all of this on?"  
"You. You made a good point back on Coruscant, when you spoke about helping me fight Abeloth. I know you were frightened of Abeloth, I know the last thing you wanted was to fight that thing. You once said you thought the only way we could defeat it was with my fathers help, and yet after three days and three nights of her depriving us of food and water you still helped me fight her. Just the two of us. You could have turned on me, you could have taken her up on her offer for power, but you didn't. I survived because of you. And the moment it came for me to give you the benefit of the doubt I turned my back on you without a second thought, I didn't even give you a chance to give your side of the story, which as I have learned seemed to be the truth. You deserved better."  
"Well don't go publicly flogging yourself just yet, regardless of how that one incident may have panned out, I am no saint, nor am I a perfect angel. I killed people before you met me, and I have killed many more since. There is plenty of which I am accountable for. I may not be guilty of what you may think but I am guilty of plenty, so hold off before you go around shouting 'all is forgiven', I certainly haven't earned that. "  
"This is why I would like us to have a chance to talk, and at the very least set everything straight. If nothing else I think enough has happened between the two us that we deserve some sense of understanding, maybe even common ground."  
The prospect of what he was suggesting made her smile, she did not believe they would reach that happy place they were at before, but if they could reach a simple understanding with one another and come to amicable terms that would be more than enough. "I...would like that, very much. Believe me. But as I am sure you can imagine, right now is not an opportune moment. This whole mess with Ship has put me on uncertain terms with Mirta and Fett, and I need to clear that matter before anything else."  
"I would think destroying Ship would have done that."  
"You have, more or less, known Fett longer than I have, does he seem like the sort to let his grudges die so easily? My personal problems almost got his only living descendant killed."  
"Okay fair enough. So, what would he have you do to pay this debt."  
"He hasn't told me, just that he has a job he can't do himself. I've had time to ponder it and have an idea what it entails. Which means I'll be out of reach for some time. But, when I am done, I would very much like for us to talk. I would like for us to speak to one another cordially. But honestly I cannot say when that would be, and I certainly could not ask you to simply wait."  
"Well, if it makes you feel better I'm technically on leave, so I'm not expected back for any Jedi business within the immediate future."  
Vestara again stared with her eyes tilted and her head cocked, wondering why he seemed so determined to go all this way for her, but before she could ask her thoughts were interrupted by an approaching sound. Both she and Ben turned to the sound of voices and footsteps approaching, no doubt Mirta, Fett, or any other of the Mando likely drawn to the sound of the grenade Vestara set off earlier. Honestly she had expected them sooner. When she glanced back at Ben he was already gone, much to her surprise, but she figured it was probably for the best right now.

Vestara decided it best not to drag out today's events more than they already had and quickly approached the nearing group, it was rather small with Mirta at the lead. Some drew their weapons as they saw her fast approach, understandable given what she was holding, but Mirta quickly waved for them to hold.  
"I believe this belongs to you." Vestara very slowly held out the disruptor towards Mirta as she came close, to which Mirta rather promptly took and secured over her shoulder.  
"I don't appreciate people taking my things. I hope this robbery of yours actually yielded some results."  
Vestara quickly nodded before gesturing back towards the darkened crevice as she had with Ben. " I shot it twice. Figured no machine would remain functional after that."  
"And the pilot?"  
"Gone. Ship wouldn't say where, but given the terrain, the decreasing sunlight, and the head start they have I doubt we'd find them easily."  
Mirta gave Vestara a quick, direct and equally chilling glare. "Are you suggesting we simply not look for them at all?"  
"No. Just that if you do, they won't be easy to find."  
"But this 'Ship' is no longer an issue?" Vestara briefly glanced over Mirta's shoulder to see Boba Fett approaching. To which she repeated the same gesture she gave Mirta.  
"It's dead or non-functioning or whatever. If either of you want I will show you."  
Fett did not respond right away, he simply took a few steps out towards the nearby cliff and stared out towards the vast landscape. The terrain was uneven, the mountainside were likely caves, and Fett even spotted a little river. "We'll can confirm what you say. But I don't think we need to worry about the pilot."  
Vestara was more than a little shocked by this answer."Are you sure?"  
"The planet is uninhabited, so there won't be any structures for them to find. And it will be night soon, so either they find a way to keep warm or freeze to death, only to make it to sunrise and let the heat have it's turn. Then there's the problem of whether they came find any food. Whoever is out there, let them rot on this nameless planet where no one will miss them. We have more pressing matters at the moment that grow increasingly time-sensitive. Were that not a factor I wouldn't mind hunting the shabuir until they collapsed." Fett stepped away from the cliff while turning back towards everyone else and gesturing back in the direction of the Kandosii. "Our main priority was seeing that that thing was destroyed, which you say has been taken care of. We cannot afford to expend any time searching a whole planet for one person. One person with literally nowhere to go. "  
As he finished speaking Fett began walking past Vestara towards the cave that house what was left of Ship, she noticed in one hand he held his signature carbine and in the other what appeared to be a thermal detonator. As he slowly faded from view Mirta simply gestured for the remaining Mando to heed Fett and return. "Do a full perimeter sweep around all three vessels, and get a complete head count before we take off."  
Vestara herself however simply decided to watch and wait for Fett to return to see that if he was pleased he had kept her word.

Within the cavern Fett stared at the warped and disfigured remains of Ship while comparing it to a small holographic projection Mirta and Vestara had made for others to identify Ship by. After a short period he was satisfied this was what she said it was and had confirmed the proverbial kill for himself. As he made his way out of the cave he simply squeezed the detonator in his hand before dropping it back into the cave. Mirta and Vestara were both startled by the following explosion, but Fett continued walking as if nothing had happened until he reached what he deemed an adequate distance, where he turned and knelt down pointing the missile on his backpack towards the cave and firing. As the second explosion erupted he simply got up and made his way down towards the two waiting for him, he needed not to say anything, Mirta gathered from the rather fiery display what Ship was destroyed, and their business was concluded for now. Fett himself just kept walking past them, back towards the other Mando and his vessel in an all too casual manner. As Vestara and Mirta followed suit Vestara herself began to ponder something Mirta had said earlier.  
"Might I ask a question?"  
"You may."  
"Did you really believe I wouldn't do what I needed to? With Ship I mean."  
"You mean when I asked if it attacked again would you destroy it? I wanted to believe that in the time we worked together, there exists some mutual trust. But at the same time you and I have spoken to one another of our histories, and one thing your history is full of is making decisions you yourself don't like. You have made choices that hurt you, because of the manner of your upbringing, as if that lifestyle itself was an addiction you could not escape even though you knew it was destroying you. When I asked you that question it was less for my benefit and more to make you ask yourself. Maybe if you did you wouldn't hurt yourself for once."  
"An argument could be made that either way I hurt myself, what I did won't go unnoticed, and certain parties won't be happy."  
"Look on the bright side, was that any different that before?"  
Vestara chuckled lightly at this "No, I guess it really isn't."

As Mirta and Vestara departed the two found themselves unknowingly watched by a figure clad in a black cowl from atop a nearby cliff, his face shadowed by his hood with only two fiery yellow eyes piercing through. The figure watched as they slowly faded out of eyesight back towards and listened as various Mando swept the area confident they would not discover him. He remained still, dampening his presence until he was certain no one else was in the area, his vigil on;y broken when a small electronic chirp emerged from his pocket. The unknown figure produced a small disc-shaped holo-projector and promptly activated it to which another hooded figure was displayed. The individual shown in the projection was equally concealed within black robes, but his hood noticeably pointed upwards in two different points near the back of his head, suggesting the figure to be of a race with cranial horns. On his hands, which he had interlocked at his waist, he wore a pair of metal gauntlets, they were smooth and conformed to the natural shape of his hands, save for the fingers which stretched slightly outward coming to a sharp point at each finger giving the appearance of claws.  
" _Where are you?_ "  
"Some, nameless, boring ass planet in the ass end of nowhere."  
" _And the meditation sphere?_ "  
"...Yeah, about that. It's kinda...on in pieces, and those pieces are on fire."  
The clawed figure began rubbing the bridge of his nose in irritation whilst releasing a heavy sigh " _Wyyrlok will not be pleased to hear this. The meditation sphere was invaluable!_ "  
"First of all that piece of scrap was pushy and over-opinionated, if someone didn't shut it up I would have. And second why should I care what Wyyrlok thinks?"  
" _Lord Krayt has left Wyyrlok in charge in his absence. Henceforth you should take his opinion and his word as you would Lord Krayt himself._ "  
"Oh, so Krayts hibernating again?" The clawed Sith let out another exasperated sigh and went to speak before being cut off. "Skywalkers son is here."  
" _Why?_ "  
"He came to save his girlfriend, then they started talking about their feelings and I wanted to vomit down my throat. Is that physically possible?"  
" _I don't know, and I don't care to, let's change the topic!_ "  
"Okay, how 'bout this, both Skywalker, and Khai are still on the planet. Khai is no longer of any use to us and the Skywalker bloodline will always be a threat. I could kill two birds with one stone, and there are some other birds here as well."  
" _You are to leave them, ignoring the fact that you would either get yourself captured or killed, Khai still has use. Ship did not agree with this course of action, but she does still have use so leave her. As for Skywalker, Krayt has plans for the entire bloodline. I do not personally agree with it, but that is not my place._ "  
"Alright, fine. When y'all comin to get me?"  
" _Get you?_ " The clawed Sith gave an almost malicious grin as he spoke.  
"Don't play with me, I know a certain little girl here who would love to know all of our nifty secrets! "  
" _Are you blackmailing me?_ "  
"Yes."  
" _Well since you put it like that, I suppose I will send someone._ "  
"Thank you."  
" _When I can spare them._ "  
"Wait, WHAT?!"  
" _And with the mess you just made, oh, who knows when that will be._ "  
"HEY! DO NOT TOY WITH ME!"  
The projected figures grin grew wider. " _Wasn't it you who said 'nameless planet in the ass end of nowhere'? They'll find you as fast as they can, keep a hold of your comm, we'll need it to track you._ " Before anything else could be said the projection shut off. The hooded Sith had to use all of his restraint to not shout in frustration and reveal his location as well as throw his comm as hard as he could and lose whatever chance he had of being found.  
Realizing that he could only but wait he sat down on a nearby rock and tried to think of ways to pass the time. For a moment he considered going through with his threat of betrayal simply to spite the other, but then he considered what his betrayal would cost him. He cared not for the opinions of the Sith, but rather what plans they held for Khai and Skywalker. Whatever these plans were he was more than certain the two of them would suffer as a result, not only did he not wish to miss out on witnessing this, he also didn't want to lose his chance of being a part of this. And so with a malicious smile and wicked intent he chose to wait.

 **A/N part 6/7 of a large update, finally got around to partially introducing a pair of villains that are exclusive to this story.**


	34. Chapter 34

Upon Mirta and Vestara's return to the Kandosii the latter immediately took notice of a pair of vessels parked within the immediate area, one she knew as Boba Fetts personal Ship the Slave I, the other was an AIAT/i gunship she wasn't familiar with but had seen in the previous battle against Ship. As the two drew closer to the group of ships Fett himself walked towards them holding a data-pad in hand, Vestara couldnt tell because of the helmet but she was sure he was facing her.  
"You mentioned you were willing to make up for past mistakes? Any means necessary? Well then." As he paused he held out the small pad towards her, to which she promptly accepted. "Here's your chance."  
When Vestara turned on the pad the screen immediately displayed the partial image Mirta had shown her before, the image they believed held a chemical compound that Kal Skirata had gone through great lengths to keep hidden, a fact that made them hope it was the cure they had sought for so long. Vestara didn't wait for anyone's instruction and pressed a small prompt on the screen, to which more of the image began to fill in bit by bit, when the image seemed through loading it was very well apparent that a significant portion was still missing.  
"I assume this isn't enough, there's no way for someone to simply do the work and fill in the blanks themselves?"  
Fett gave a very terse response. "No. This isn't something you should guess on."  
Vestara only gave a brief glance towards Mirta, whose face told her she believed Vestara knew where the conversation was headed. "So, when yo said you needed me to do something you can't, you meant I have to go to Mandalore? That's where you think the rest is?"  
"Kal Skirata spent the remainder of his military career on Mandalore itself. We had originally anticipated that the entire cure would be hidden planet-side. But it appears he felt it better not to hide it all in one place. Many of the locations we have checked he only served briefly, likely for the simple purpose of entrusting this information to someone under his command."  
"And now I have to go the one place noone else here can? By myself? Where pretty much everyone would hate me?"  
Mirta rather humorously nodded in an almost childish way, with a big grin and giving a simple response. "Yep."  
"Fantastic."  
Fett turned and began walking towards the nearby AIAT/i while shouting back at the two. "Gather your things, and meet me when your ready. There is more you need to be briefed on."  
" _Oh joy, there's more._ " When Fett was gone the two entered the Kandosii to gather what few belongings Vestara had brought with her, along the way Vestara noticed several of the Mando watching her. She found herself more that a little uncomfortable with their anxiety and discontent, it seemed apparent they knew what was being asked of her and didn't seem fond of this task being given to Vestara. When they reached her and Mirta's shared quarters it only took them mere minutes to gather Vestara's belongings, very little actually belonged to her, a few sets of clothes, and whatever miscellaneous tools she typically kept on her person that she didn't immediately have on right then. What few other things she had she borrowed and thus weren't hers to take, when they were done all of her possessions fit into a single small over the shoulder bag and the room didn't look all that different. " _Like I wasn't even here._ "  
When she was absolutely certain she had everything of her she walked over to the doorway where Mirta was waiting and tried to hand her the vibro-blade she had previously loaned her. "Keep it. I expect you'll need it."  
"Are you expecting me to run into that much trouble? Or is there something you aren't telling me?"  
"There are things you still don't know, but ba'buir will go over them."  
"But this should still be a simple get in, get what I'm looking for and get out, right?"  
Mirta's face looked almost forlorn when she asked that, and this bothered her. "Let's go, we're done here." And the fact that she didn't actually answer her bothered her even more.  
Again they walked through the corridors with piercing gazes watching from every direction, this time their was a mixture of hatred and relief, someone was happy she was leaving, a sentiment she felt she possibly deserved.  
The AIAT/i was a ship Vestara wasn't familiar with but understood it was used for infantry transport typically for military purposes, so it was significantly smaller than the Kandosii. It was separated into three decks the bottom of which was large and spacious for hauling both cargo and assault vehicles, which with the exception of a couple of speeder bikes this one lacked, with the middle deck being where everyone stayed. Despite the nature of the vessel Vestara noticed it rather vacant, lacking any sort of extended crew at all, much of the equipment didn't seem as though it had been handled in some time. In fact neither of them seemed to encounter anyone until they reached the command deck at the helm where only a small handful of people, consisting of Fett, Venku Skirata, Mirta's husband Ghes (both of whom smiled back at each other) and a small handful of other Mando each with their own unique armors, seemed to be waiting for the two. The only other person who stood out was a man standing next to Venku wearing red armor, but unlike everyone else no helmet, and a long brown coat over his armor. The person looked to be close to middle aged at most 50, he had tanned skin, dark black unkempt hair that didn't go past his ears, and bright green eyes, but the most peculiar trait of him was that he immediately took notice of Vestara and seemed fixated upon her, to which she felt great curiosity coming from him. She wasn't sure what to make of that.  
Fett did not wait for introductions or even for the two of them to even reach the table that everyone had gathered at to begin explaining the current situation, gesturing to Vestara as he spoke. "This is the girl we will be sending to look for the rest of the compound. She isn't Mando'ade so no one would be able to tie her directly to either of us. She would just be another face in the crowd, and she possesses a unique skillset that will smooth things along."  
One of the others standing nearby looked her up and down before turning back to Fett. "And yor sure we can trust her?"  
"Trust doesn't enter into this. We have few other options, so does she."  
Venku gave a small step towards Fett staring at him suspiciously. "But, does she know the full situation?"  
"That's what we're here to discuss right now."  
"No to be rude but could you please speak like I'm actually in the room." Vestara sniped back at the group.  
Fett said nothing, but Venku gave a small courteous nod. "Apologies."  
"As you well know the nano-killer affects anyone of any relation to my father, no matter how many generations, so we need someone who isn't affected to go to Mandalore. But, are you aware of just how many people the virus affects?" Vestara stared at Fett for a second before shaking her head realizing she had never actually given the number any thought. "By the time the Clone wars ended only a single legion of roughly 9,200 clone troopers remained, eventually that number was reduced to about one third, so a little over 6,100 clones were retired by the Empire to menial tasks with most being steadily retired as the Emperor simply grew weary of them after a certain point, especially since most only continued to serve due to their mental conditioning and inhibitor chips. Point is not long after the Empire was established almost all were being replaced and many left to start new lives on Mandalore. We estimate around only 8,000 survived to start new lives. This was nearly 70 years ago. On Mandalore the age of adulthood is 16 so its been four generations since the clones were retired. And given that it isn't uncommon on Mandalore for one to have large families there could be anywhere between 128,000-2,048,000 affected by the virus. On a planet with a population of only 4,000,000!"  
Vestara stared quite agape at that rather wide margin. "Are you saying that half of the planet is gone?!"  
"No. That would be an extreme worst case scenario, I was simply making an example."  
"We estimate that the actual number of those who left along with extended family such as spouses or parents, or adopted family members that went with them ranges somewhere in the upper 900,000's. Which falls under just a quarter of the planets population."  
"The point I'm am trying to make is given how many clones survived to immigrate to Mandalore, and how much time has passed, a sizable portion or the planets population has some genetic connection to one of them. Now ask yourself this question, can any civilization function properly when such a noticeable portion of its population is forced to leave, or simply dies?"  
"No...no I don't think it can."  
"Things haven't been easy planet-side, the radical drop in population has caused both political and public unrest. This will not be a situation where you would be able to simply walk in and take what you need, regardless of on whose behalf your doing so."  
Venku very abruptly rose his hand to interject. "And there is still the matter of Fett's political opponents. One of the lager contributing factors to the chaos back home is that the planets de facto leader is also absent. Regardless of whether he has the capacity to communicate to the citizens and that there are still those loyal to him, people need to see their leader. An absent figure head can only be so effective. Those who seek Fett's position for themselves are taking advantage of this and adding to the already hectic situation."  
Vestara was liking all of this less and less. "Am I going to go down and find the whole planet on fire or buildings collapsed."  
Venku and his companion quickly waved their hands to assuage her. "Nothing of the sort. The people are for lack of a better term restless, but no outright acts of violence have been committed. Protests and such, but nothing has happened. Though this does not mean something won't which is why things have become rather urgent and time-sensitive. And as I mentioned his political opponents are taking advantage of this, when things go bad they'll use this to discredit Fett and forcefully take over his position. This also means they will try to stop anyone whose trying to rectify the situation. For if the problem is resolved then Fett returns and they lose whatever footing they might have had."  
Vestara was now stroking her temples impatiently. "I hate politics. So how exactly am I supposed to get anything done?"  
Venku finally addressed the individual who stood at his side the entire meeting, the man who had been watching Vestara."This man right here will assist you. He is an old family associate of mine. His name is Veran Enwandung-Esterhazy and he assisted me in getting off of Mandalore when the virus was first released." Veran gave a very terse nod towards her but said nothing. "He will provide you lodgings so that you may be kept out sight, while making arrangements for you to complete your task. But I must remind you it will be in your best interest to follow his instructions."  
Vestara began to nod in agreement to this before noticing that everyone seemed to be staring at her. "There's something you still haven't told me yet isn't there."  
Venku began nervously scratching the back of his head while everyone else simply stood idle. "As we mentioned the situation had become dire on Mandalore, but there is another matter that further complicates the situation. Recently a quarantine of sorts has been established around the planet."  
"A...quarantine?"  
"People are allowed to enter the planet, they aren't denying citizens their right to return home. But people aren't being allowed to leave. We aren't sure who is responsible for this, overzealous supporters of Fett trying to keep the virus from spreading given its longevity, or his political opposition who are simply creating another tense situation in the guise of keeping the virus contained. But either way those on Mandalore are for the moment stuck there, and this is being upheld by the military. This has also made off-world trade with Mandalore difficult so businesses are being effected, and we imagine it's only a matter of time before that get's further out of hand."  
It suddenly dawned on Vestara what the big secret was, if she didn't succeed, if she didn't find what they were looking for, she could never leave. If she wanted to move on with her life, she had to give the Mandalorians back theirs. It was a task that Fett needed to have done, one he needed someone to do, but failure was in and of itself its own punishment. "So if, hypothetically, I am unable to ever find what I'm looking for, the remaining data files, I won't be going anywhere, ever?"  
Mirta gave a nervous smile. "I wouldn't say 'ever', the virus has a long lifespan but it will eventually die out on its own. Bright side, its a nice planet, there are worse places you could be stuck."  
Her attempt to reassure her however didn't go over well as Vestara simply scowled back.  
Before anyone got too distracted from their original topic Fett quickly interjected. "All you need to keep in mind is that our authority won't open every door, so do not go flaunting it, and it's imperative that for your own safety noone learn who you really are outside of Veran. And that if you cause any more unrest, you will only be acerbating an already destabilizing situation. Any scene, or event, or commotion you cause can and will have repercussions."  
" _So, my life depends on my renowned sense of subtlety. Fantastic._ "  
"If there is something left to be said I suggest you do so now, you and Veran leave immediately." Fett wasted no more words as he left, not even stopping to acknowledge Mirta, several other Mando leaving behind him, as Mirta and Vestara found themselves joined by Ghes.  
"So, how are you both doing?"  
Mirta very eagerly took Ghes' hand in her own before staring backup at him. "We're doing well, better now that the other matter is handled."  
"Good, now would you mind telling me what exactly we were shooting at before." Clearly referring to Ship.  
"It's a long story, and not particularly relevant to anything right now so, it's not something anyone need lose sleep over." Ghes eyed her slightly unconvinced for a brief moment, but her smile reassured him and it was clear he was dropping the subject. Vestara liked seeing the two of them together, she had come to know a great many personal things about Mirta, and seeing her happy with someone, someone she had elected to spend her life with, in turn made Vestara happy. It made her hopeful, whether she realized it or not, that if there was still some bright light in Mirta's life in spite of the pain she'd endured then maybe their was hope for Vestara, slim as that may be.  
Their brief conversation found itself interrupted by Venku and his associate Veran who silently addressed Vestara but gestured toward Mirta and Ghes. "Misses Gev and her husband will be accompanying us, she seemed intent on seeing you off, but just until we reach a checkpoint right outside Mandalores orbit. At that point you and Veran will have to head down on your own. Unfortunately there's no one else here who can go with you."  
"So it will just be me and him, you all made the situation sound...dire seems so inadequate, but we'll go with that, and I will only be working with one other person?"  
"We aren't without our contacts, Gev has provided several names of individuals you and Veran may contact once you get situated. But that is something that can be discussed later, for now I suggest we get underway. As things stand, time is precious."

For the majority of the trip Vestara chose to simply keep to herself, the only people she knew aboard the ship were Mirta and Ghes, and she didn't want to interrupt what time they spent together, she wasn't sure what Mirta would be doing while Vestara was on Mandalore, or what she and her husband would do if and when they could return. But from the sounds of things everyone ,Mirta included ,would have a mess to clean up, and so she simply let them have their happy moments unsure of how long they would last.  
Eventually she became so consumed in her own isolation thinking of the come days that she didn't notice Venku's associate Veran standing next to her staring down at her.  
"Can I help you? You have been staring at me since I got in here."  
"Sorry. I've simply been trying to get a feel of who you are. I'm trying to understand why Venku is so trusting of someone of Sith origins, especially considering what the Sith have done to his family. And mine."  
Vestara quickly shot her gaze up at him, staring him up and down curiously before leaning her head forward and whispering. "Do you possess a...'unique skill-set' similar to Venku and myself?"  
"How do you think I know him?"  
Vestara paused for a moment thinking back to her conversation with Venku on Nar Shaada. "He said he knew someone he thought could help me. Was he referring to you?"  
Veran very tersely shook his head. "No. But the individual of whom he spoke is who you will be staying with. He figures it would be best if your going to be staying on world for some time it is best to make the most of your time there."  
"And this person, they are..." She quickly glanced around to make sure noone was listening. "...like us?"  
"They are indeed."  
"And this person knows is fine harboring a former Sith?"  
"They will be."  
"THEY DON'T KNOW!?"  
"Venku hasn't had time to set everything up, but I can assure you this person will help you. You have my word you will be safe."  
Vestara scoffed to this. "No offense, but I don't know you from a lizard-monkey, given that we just met ten minutes ago your words means Kriff-all to me."  
Half of a grin flickered across the side of his mouth as he took in her statement. "That's fair. But, bare in mind Venku, a man who has kept your identity hidden from Daala, is trusting me with your safety. So trust that Venku isn't trying to swindle you."  
"His mother died during Order 66. I don't trust him not to have some plan to kill me either."  
Exasperated he let out a heavy sigh while shaking his head. "Are you always so paranoid towards everyone you meet?"  
"Pretty much, keeps me alive."  
"Yes, and how wold you rate your 'life' as it were."  
"...Not too good actually."  
As Vestara caught sight of Mirta come over to where she sat Veran turned to leave, but not before making one last comment over his shoulder. "Funny how that is."  
As Veran left Mirta glanced back and forth at the two curious at the situation. "Having a nice chat?"  
"Just talking about my soon to be planet sized cell."  
"That's a rather crass way of putting it."  
"If I fail, or if what your looking for just isn't there I will be stuck on a quarantined planet. The virus has a lifespan of who knows how long, so there's a chance a foreign world, in whose society I don't belong, will be my prison."  
"Many people go their whole lives never leaving the planet they live on. You make it sound dreary. Like I said before it's a pleasant world. Be thankful we aren't sending you somewhere like Tatooine. Worst case scenario, you get stuck there but you actually get a chance to find the peace you are looking for. Unless of course, the problem isn't where you are, so much as who your with. Or as I suppose is more likely who you aren't with."  
Vestara was now visibly scowling at her "And what is that supposed to mean?"  
"Just that I somehow don't think you'd be complaining if Ben were there." At the mention of his name Vestara's eyes twitched and her scowl deepened, Mirta did not wish to upset her and so she sat down next to her to try and change the subject. "If it makes you feel any better, you going wasn't my idea. I was against it. But ba'buir said you volunteered to do 'anything' to make up for the incident with Ship." Vestara rolled her eyes rooing her own words. "And truth be told we didn't have many other people we could spare."  
"I suppose I did say I would make things right." Vestara sat holding her head in her hand for a brief silent moment staring around the room before looking back at Mirta and going back to her previous thought. "What are you gonna do, if I pull this off I mean? I mean I realize things won't just go back to normal, but after everything what are you and Ghes going to do?"  
"Well first I'm going to spend some quality time with my grandmother. She didn't get off Mandalore fast enough so she's stuck there, and even if there wasn't a quarantine the virus is still in her system, her very presence would kill me."  
"That's...that's awful. She gets frozen for several decades, wakes up to find her daughter dead, her only living relative is an adult granddaughter she's never known, and then you two can't even spend time as a family."  
"Do you understand now why I'm so irritable? She isn't even Mandalorian, hell she isn't even human. And she's cut off from everyone she knows. I see alot of who mom was in her, the good parts anyway."  
"But what else? After you've caught up with family?"  
"Why the interest?"  
Vestara looked towards a nearby window to see the approaching green orb she knew to be Mirta's home. "It gives me something to focus on. Something to think about while I'm down there, why I'm doing this. What will I be giving back to someone whose done so much for me?"  
Mirta smiled heavily at this response and stared towards the window as well as they continued talking about the future, and the life Mirta had planned. Somehow it felt normal, ordinary, for both of them to simply talk about the future. To not think of Jedi, Sith, or the Force itself. But to just talk about life, it left them both relaxed.

 **A/N** **7/7 of a large update, hopefully there will be no more egregiously long gaps like this one, that's gonna stick with me for a while.  
Also pay attention to the character Veran's last name.  
**


	35. Chapter 35

Mirta and Vestara simply visited with one another until the very moment the Slave IV reached the checkpoint at the edge of Mandalore's atmosphere, neither one really acted as though the situation was dire, they did their best to remain calm and composed. Mirta held confidence that Vestara would be successful and her confinement was merely temporary, Vestara was more cynical and imagined that whatever could go wrong likely would. But still they talked of future plans and places Mirta thought Vestara should visit on Mandalore should the moment present itself, simply another friendly conversation that ended with a simple farewell. A 'farewell' that said they recognized they were parting but declared it to be only momentary despite the uncertainty of coming events. At the checkpoint Veran and Vestara left the ship breifly entering a small station were Veran presented authorities with credentials that proved he was a citizen of Mandalore, born and raised, as well as what appeared to be falsified credentials for Vestara. While she pondered the necessity of such things, she chose not to question it simply accepting that it was likely easier for them to try and write her off as a native than someones 'plus one'. Once the pair had been approved they very promptly boarded a small public transportation shuttle to deliver them down to the planet itself.

Vestara knew little of Mandalore merely what she heard by reputation, which wasn't always nice given the peoples violent history. But when they cleared the clouds she as she gazed out the window of their shuttle she saw Mirta was correct, it was a rather nice looking world. What she could see was primarily covered in greenery be it expansive grasslands or thick jungles it now made perfect sense as to why the planet looked almost lime green from space. Between the continents were rather expansive blue seas giving the planet an almost serene appearance, a complete foil to the negative reputation its inhabitants held. But as they grew closer blemishes in the landscape appeared, dense opaque grey domes surrounded by white sanded deserts could be seen spread out, though few and far between, across the landscape she could see, but no other structures.  
Curious as to the significance she lightly tapped on the window to get Veran's attention so that he may look at what she was pointing at, once he did he required no inquiry from her he knew what puzzled her. "Those are the cities. They are kept in bio-domes where the atmosphere can be controlled."  
"Why?"  
Veran quickly waved his finger around gesturing towards the pale flatland's surrounding the domes. "Generations of war left the planet almost completely uninhabitable. A great deal was reduced to white sanded flatland's, and in order to survive the few remaining settlements were holed up in domes so the people wouldn't be affected by the deteriorating ecosystem. But after so many years of the environment being left alone it began to heal, and the outside portions of the planet became habitable again, many people began leaving the cities to restore some of the forests and grasslands. As you can see they have made progress, or they were, I don't know how many farmers were left after the virus hit. Venku himself was a farmer before he had to leave."  
"I have another question, if almost the entire populace lives in bio-domes then..."  
"You want to know why anyone had to leave in the first place? Simple, the atmosphere isn't completely filtered out, plant-life still grows within the domes, and people are still born and raised. A spaceship or station can produce an artificial atmosphere to sustain it's occupants, but people who live their whole lives in artificial environments, under false gravity, generally do not grow up to be as healthy as those who are exposed to some degree of the elements on an actual planet. The domes still receive their oxygen from the planet itself, and were simply built to protect from harsh living conditions, as of late they are becoming more and more superfluous. So I suppose the short answer to your question is they don't actually do anything to stop the virus. They were never meant to."  
"Missed opportunity, huh?"  
"I suppose."  
"The world almost seems so...empty."  
"A world like Coruscant can have a population of several billion, the population here is still in the millions, can be counted on one hand while leaving you with a finger to flip someone off. Our people are few compared to others, another consequence of generations of war."

The shuttle they occupied eventually made it's way into one of the domes Vestara spotted where the two quickly gathered their belongings and left the port while the shuttle returned to the station from whence it came. Veran and Vestara hurriedly made their way to a small terminal where Veran began quickly typing something into the screen, Vestara couldn't help but notice a trace of anxiety about him.  
"What are you doing?"  
"Getting a cab. I had hoped the shuttle would have dropped us off closer."  
"Closer to where, exactly?"  
"Where you will be staying, it isn't in any of the cities, too many people watching ."  
"Might I ask why there is a problem with us being far from-"  
"Because anyone looking for anything out of the ordinary will notice an extended cab ride out into the countryside. If we were in the next city, which isn't for several miles, it wouldn't be an issue."  
There was something Veran wasn't telling her, something about where she was going. Or perhaps it had to do with whom she would be staying with. But she decided not to pry and kept her curiosity to herself simply waiting for the cab in silence. As they waited she gazed about at the city around them, it had a rich and sophisticated appearance about it much like the cities of Coruscant, though significantly less crammed together. She also took notice that while the domes and structures were metallic grey in coloration, much of the vehicles, and various forms of technology being employed throughout the city were a bright amber coloration, while the domes externally looked rather dismal the bright amber gave the inside a rather sunny appearance, something that almost offset what she understood to be a rather somber atmosphere again proving Mirta's point, it was a pleasant looking place. As she looked out into the crowds she saw a mixture of individuals both wearing armor and not. Some people simply wore regular clothes, and uniforms, but again she saw the Mando wearing an assortment of colored armors, and she couldn't help but ponder the significance. She still had in her possession the suit Mirta had loaned her and wondered if knowing such things would matter.  
"If I may, I have a question." Veran turned to her, but was rather impatiently flexing his hand repetitively, he was tense about something and while she figured he likely didn't want to be disturbed this might take his mind off of present matters. "Does the color of mandalorian armors have any special meaning?"  
Veran's eyes widened and he tilted his head, possibly surprised she didn't already know this. "Actually they do, while it's true anyone can customize their armors with whatever designs they would like, there are 7 main colors that do hold significant meaning which you might need to know. Gray signifies the mourning of a lost loved one. Gold is the pursuit of vengeance. Green represents an adherence to duty. Blue is reliability, typically worn by those that have proven themselves. Orange is a desire for life, to live. Black is the pursuit of justice, and red is honoring ones parent."  
She briefly thought over what he said and applied that to the few Mando she had come to know, the few she personally met. Mirta's armor was both gray and orange, she knew she mourned her mother, but it seemed deep down she also wished to live, perhaps more than Vestara understood. Ghes and Veran both wore primarily red armor, while Mirta had mentioned that Ghes only ever had his father growing up she knew nothing about Veran. Boba Fett wore an assortment of colors green, red, and a faded gold. Duty, which made sense as he was the Mand'alore, love for a parent, and vengeance. Then she thought of the armor Mirta loaned her, black. Mirta mentioned it was the suit she wore when she first met her grandfather and, acting on false information, had conspired to kill him. It seemed rather grim and depressing that she once considered murdering someone she now loved so much justice. Although maybe it was appropriate that she wore it, it didn't seem so far off that trying to right an egregious wrong and allow many to return home was it's own form of justice.

But before she got too deep in thought she felt Veran lightly tap on her shoulder before pointing towards a brightly amber colored taxi cab, when Veran peered inside he saw that the cab was being manually driven by a female twi'lek driver he let out a small sigh of relief. After the two entered and brought their belongings inside the driver turned and addressed them with a somewhat unnecessarily large smile. "So, where are you two headed?"  
"It's a ways away, can you take us as far as Kyrimorut?"  
The driver whistled hearing that name, clearly taken back. "That **IS** a way out. Yeah I can take you but it will cost you."  
"The place we need to go is just south of there, I can direct you."  
A small screen displaying a map opened up on the small wall that separated them from the driver."Point it out on there and we'll see if you have enough." Veran tapped the screen several times until he had the location he wanted, at which point a rather large number presented itself on the screen and the driver looked back at him. "Ya'll got that much?"  
Veran sat still for a moment grumbling to himself in angst, which Vestara found immensely amusing, before finally addressing the drivers question. "Yes...I have that much."  
"Perfect! Then let's go!"

For the entirety of their ride Veran simply sat grumbling to himself, the driver went about her business while humming to herself, and Vestara chose to examine the surrounding world as it passed by them. After they exited the city and past the ashen pale flatland's they drove through rather elegant countryside, parts still looked marred or warped from past battles such as segments of earth split and tilted upwards, and sections of the grasslands that dipped inwards that undoubtedly were once craters. But despite this the planets openness gave it a pleasant feeling, Vestara now considered the worst case to be less and less dreadful. The planet was much less crowded than her home-world of Kesh, the idea of spending anytime in a place so open was actually becoming appealing to her. Space felt like an ocean, infinite and lacking substance and easy for one to drown in, what she needed was some place with substance, but not too much. She hadn't spent much time on any open worlds such as this and had spent much less time in the recent years free of Ships constant tribulataing voice, even with the restrictions of her current situation she found a freedom within it all and that freedom was almost invigorating.  
The cab ride took the two past another bio-dome further upwards on the continent past another smaller settlement that wasn't contained within a dome as well as a rather dense forest and down a man made countryside road that finally led to an elevated plateau overlooking the nearby town, but far enough away that it wouldn't be immediately visible to the occupants. Atop the plateau was a single story mansion covering slightly over a quarter of an acre. The building was partially surrounded by several gardens as well as a few groves of blossom trees around the estate.  
Vestara stared rather dumbfounded at the thought that this was were she would be staying having been under the impression she was supposed to be laying low, and this did not seem to be doing so. Veran on the other hand was focused on gathering their belongings from the cab and paying the driver, but as she went to drive back the the city she picked them up from Veran very faintly waved his hand in front of her.  
"It would be best if you erased any record of this trip from your travel log."  
The drivers face went slightly blank. "It would be best if I erased any record of this trip from my travel log."Veran gave a large grin and waved her off as she drove away.  
"So is that why you wanted a manually driven cab? So you could have them erase the log."  
"Pretty much. Can't do that with the automatic cabs. Not very easily that is."  
"Well then, if you were going to influence her anyway, why did you wait until after you paid her, you could have saved some money?!"  
"Because, if I had her drive all the way out here and not paid her, that would have been rude, and asinine."  
Vestara rolled her eyes before directing his attention back to the manor in front of them. "Do please explain to me how this qualifies as inconspicuous."  
"I figured you would be curious about that, trust me no one ever comes out here unless they are invited. You will be safe here."  
"And you know this how exactly? Just whose home is this?"  
"Technically, mine." Vestara reared her head back is shock at his answer. "It's the family estate, I was actually born in this manor. So when I say you will be safe, I know what I'm talking about."  
Hearing this only piqued her curiosity as she remembered Veran's previous statement, that she would be staying with someone Venku thought could help her.  
When they first entered the manor Vestara immediately took notice to several portraits and photos hanging on the walls or sitting on several small entry way tables that lined the walls themselves.  
One of the first to catch her eye was a photo of three people (man, woman, and teenage girl), each of whom seemed almost out of place together. The man seemed to be a Mando with short greying brown hair and wearing standard Mando gear, colored a sandy shade of gold. The woman stood out the most with wild and colorful hair, black transitioning to blue with red stripes throughout it, and the way she dressed she almost looked like royalty, adorned in elegant ornate robes that even from the photo looked like some sort of fine silk. Then there was the girl, she had green eyes, long bright red hair that framed her face, and looked to be around Vestara's age in the photo. What stood out the most was the way she dressed as she wore what looked like the typical style robes of a Jedi. Despite how out of place the three looked together, given that neither resembled the others, Vestara couldn't help but feel as though she were looking at a picture of a child and her parents.  
There were quite a few other photos and portraits along the wall as well, the Mando and he regal looking woman appeared in some, but for the most part it seemed the most reoccurring of the three was the young girl. The red haired girl appeared in most of the pictures she could see at different ages in her life, in one she appeared now fully grown standing next to a tall Mando wearing blue armor that looked a lot like Veran, while in others she appeared with children, several of whom resembled her. For a moment Vestara found herself adrift with envy for someone she did not even know, had not even met simply because of these pictures. Vestara stopped and thought about whether or not her family ever kept such photos. She was certain she had at least some pleasant memories from her childhood, but had anyone stopped to record any of those moments, or had the Sith burned that sentimentality out from her parents?  
Before Vestara was able to examine every photo she found herself interrupted by the soft tapping of footsteps on the hard tile floor. When Vestara looked to see whom it was she saw an elderly woman standing across the room from her staring at her with great anxiety and suspicion. The woman had almost completely pale gray hair with only a few rusty colored strands lingering that she had tied into a large braid in the back leaving only a few strands to rest at the sides of her face, and very familiar bright green eyes. Vestara also took notice of her choice of apparel which resembled Jedi robes though much more formal looking. Little doubt sat in Vestara's mind this woman was the young girl from the photos she just examined. Though her expression suggested that Vestara's presence was unwelcome.  
"Who are you, and what are you doing in my house?!" Her voice was incensed and accusatory. Vestara did not have time to answer her question before Veran suddenly stepped forward holding his hands out to try and assuage her.  
"It's okay! Its alright, she's with me. I brought her here." Seeing Veran almost immediately calmed the woman down as she let out a heavy sigh of relief and dropped her shoulders down just slightly as she seemed to release the tension in her body.  
"Veran. Why the fierfek didn't you tell me you were coming?! I could have gotten your room ready. And who is she?" Pointing over Verans shoulder to Vestara.  
"Her name is Sevarra Raine and-"  
"Don't lie to my face, in my own house."  
Veran stood perplexed for a moment before realizing to what she was reffering. "...Okay, her name is Vestara Khai." Vestara immediately stared at him dumbfounded and perplexed. "She is here at the behest of Venku."  
The elderly woman stared back at Vestara over Veran's shoulder curiously. "Venku mentioned there was someone he wanted me to meet, but you or he could have at least commed and told me you were bringing them by."  
"She's here for another reason as well."  
Her gazed shot back to face Veran as she rose her eyebrow. "And that would be?"  
"She's here on Mandalore on official business for Boba Fett." The woman grimaced at the mention of that name. "She's here to help find the cure. And Venku thought it would be better if she stayed here. Noone ever bothers you, and it would get Venku's request out of the way."  
"And no one saw fit to comm me and ask how I felt opening my home to a complete stranger?! I don't mind visitors so long as they announce themselves, and the very same goes for anyone I am expected to give lodging to!"  
"I apologize, but we felt it was imperative she get here as soon as possible, given the state of affairs here on Mandalore."  
For a moment her eyes darted back and forth from Veran to Vestara as she suspiciously eyed them both, before leaning in close to Veran. "And she can be trusted? She isn't a threat?"  
"She's just here to help Fett, his granddaughter and all the other clone descendants come home. She actually happens to be a good friend of Mirta's."  
"That was neither a yes or a no to either question."  
"She isn't a threat. To you, or me. She's just here to help a friend and then she will be on her way, I promise."  
For a moment longer the elderly woman stared at Vestara inquisitively, long enough that Vestara herself was becoming uncomfortable. Finally she walked past Veran and over to where Vestara stood continuing her gaze. Vestara started to extend her hand out to the woman figuring that a polite greeting would be appropriate to diffuse the tension when suddenly the woman raised both of her hands and clapped them at each side of Vestara's face and pulled Vestara's slightly closer to her own as if she were examining her. Vestara was more than a little uncomfortable with this as her head was turned in several directions as the woman continued to stare down at her with great curiosity as if examining some sort of bauble, and Vestara was more than tired of it. Eventually she caught sight of the scar curling up from Vestara's lip, upon noticing it her expression softened as she began to run her thumb very delicately across the scar. To say Vestara was now upset would be an understatement, Vestara hated her scar, of all her physical traits it was her least favorite and most despised. On that note Vestara was always uncomfortable with people staring at it, and she hated when people tried to touch it, save for one occasion from Ben. But this wasn't Ben, the physical contact was unwelcome, and Vestara found herself dangerously close to screaming at this woman, whomever she was.  
"You've got a bit of darkness in you." Hearing this made Vestara immediately forget what she was thinking. "But you've also got a little bit of light in there to. It's small but it's there. Like a lamp post on a starry night." Before Vestara could make any response the woman released her face but continued to stare at her. "Are you Sith?"  
"N..not anymore."  
Her eyes narrowed as if she wasn't completely convinced and the two simply stood idle for a moment before the elderly woman turned to leave the room, though talking over her shoulder to Veran as she left. "I suppose she can stay, I could always use another pair of hands to help with the dishes." This particular remark made Vestara's eye twitch as she watched her leave the room.  
"Is she always so grabby, or am I just special?!"  
"I must apologize if she made you uncomfortable, or if any of that came off as rude. Her social graces have declined in her later years."  
"My father had declining social graces and he beat me. She's just weird."  
"I suppose she is unusual, yes."  
"That's putting it mildly. May I ask who the kriff that is?"  
"That Vestara is my mother. Tallisibeth Enwandung-Esterhazy."


	36. Chapter 36

Veran very promptly led Vestara to one of the manors guest bedrooms so that she could get settled in, Vestara noticed that the manor seemed awfully vacant, completely devoid of life, so much so that many portions of the household weren't even illuminated simply left dark and dusty. It brought to mind the question of whether this Tallisibeth lived alone in her advanced age, Vestara knew nothing of the woman but it still seemed unwise if so.  
Vestara found herself quite surprised by the size of her living arrangements, the bedroom Veran brought her to was quite wide and spacious, at one end of the room was a large bed, she guessed queen-sized, and across from it a few feet away from the door was a decent sized dresser. Across from the rooms closet was a small table with a mirror attached propped against the wall. It seemed like much for a simple guest room but she wasn't going to nitpick. She set the single bag she was carrying with her on the wall-side table and began to unpack what little she had before she noticed Veran still standing in the doorway examining a data-pad.  
"This is why you didn't want to draw attention to us isn't it, your mother?"  
Veran did not look up from what ever it was that had his attention. "Yes, while I believe you'll be safe here and you'll benefit from your stay, I would rather we not draw any attention from her at all. Goodness knows she's been through enough in her lifetime."  
"Then why even bother bringing me here? If it's so important we keep our business away from her, having a former Sith serving at the behest of the Mand'alore's granddaughter in her home sounds reckless and stupid."  
Veran groaned with audible frustration while finally staring up from his data-pad. "Because frankly I don't have anywhere else to put you on such short notice. Anywhere else, anyone else would connect back to Mirta or Fett. And unfortunately for me this estate has no traceable ties back to either." Veran took a deep breath before turning off the data-pad he was holding. "I know this is asking alot of you but I must implore that you stay on the estate for your stay, whatever needs the both of you have I will take care of. In the meantime I must go and make arrangements, as it stands we won't be able to just waltz into any military complex and demand to look at their computers. So sit tight, don't leave the house, and try to help mother with whatever she needs."  
"I'm babysitting your geriatric mother? I though she was watching me."  
Veran tried to contain a chuckle at her remark. "First of all, if you know whats good for you, you won't ever call her 'geriatric' again. And second my mother is technically opening her home to you, which given how reclusive she has become is a rarity, so I am simply asking you to give her a hand if she needs it with anything around the house."  
"So instead of babysitting, I'm the maid?"  
Veran rolled his eyes while shaking his head. "If you need to label it, fine." When Veran finally left Vestara resumed unpacking and distributing her belongings, which didn't take long, before simply laying on the bed and staring at the ceiling for a while. Vestara honestly couldn't think of how this was any different from her time aboard the Kandossi, she stayed in, didn't bother anyone, and only came out if someone needed something of her. Hardly the paradigm shift.  
She then began to wonder what it was Ben was doing at this exact moment, she never quite had time to process the fact that he simply appeared before or that their conversation was so cordial. She found the idea that he might be simply waiting somewhere for her absurd, but then considered the fact that she already found him odd to begin with. But ultimately she decided it best not to think on it for now, after all if she never left this world what would be the point of such contemplation?  
Vestara continued staring at the ceiling until she noticed a slow echoing knock coming from the halls outside her room that got steadily louder as it approached, Vestara stared at her doorway waiting for the sound she now believed to be footsteps to reach her before Tallisibeth appeared at her doorway with her hand tracing along the wall. At first Tallisibeth seemed to have no interest in Vestara until she paused and took a deep heavy breath, Vestara imagined given her advanced age she wasn't able to get around as well as she used to. After standing still for a moment and catching herself she stared into the room to see Vestara simply sprawled out on the bed. Her eyes furrowed when she noticed Vestara was still wearing her boots.  
"First of all, if your going to take a nap remove your shoes! I don't need to be washing your dirt and mud out of the sheets. And second, if you re not too preoccupied could you assist me?"  
Vestara didn't argue she simply stood up and walked towards the elderly woman. "What with?"  
"I simply need aid getting outside to the garden." Holding her arm out towards Vestara.  
Simply nodding at the gesture Vestara took her arm and led her through the house, the only interaction between them that followed was Tallisibeth directing her through the house, and the continued echo of their footsteps. Vestara again took notice that Tallisibeth seemed to live alone despite seeing so many different people in the various photos she saw around the house. She found the things that made her curious about this Tallisibeth growing, but she had more pressing quandaries.  
Tallisibeth continued to direct her when they reached the outside garden to the specific spot she wished to go. As the two walked Vestara found herself quite taken with the surrounding, various plants, consisting primarily of flowers, of various shapes sizes and colors spread across a large part of the outer portion of the estate, most planted in the ground, some in pots, and others winding around archways that could be walked through. While Vestara had only glimpsed the gardens when they first arrived she found it quite impressive up close and in person. Tallisibeth took notice of Vestara's wandering gaze and look of awe responding with a lighthearted chuckle. "Everyone needs a hobby, even someone as old as me."  
Tallisibeth finally directed Vestara to sit her down on a bench partially surrounded by several pots with various plants in each, next to the bench was a small water spigot extending from the grounds with a watering can sitting under it, Tallisibeth took a moment to catch her breath before standing up, filling the can and watering several of the surrounding pots. Vestara saw this as good a time as any to get some things off of her mind. "Might I ask you a question?"  
"I heartily expect you to have several."  
"You are a Jedi, correct?"  
"What I am is retired, and that certainly isn't what's on your mind."  
"I suppose what I'm curious about is how you have come to be here, Venku told me his story, but how are you here?"  
"I suppose my son and I are an oddity to be found in this environment, though at the same time, not so much."  
"How so?"  
"Everyone only ever pays attention to one facet of Mandalorian culture, the proud warrior side, but they have a passionate side as well. You see, adoption is a very large part of Mandalorian society, essentially if you love someone you make them your family, as a result Mandalorian clans and houses tend to become quite large. I once heard a rumor of Mandalore's senate representative settling down with a togruta, but I don't know if that story is true or not. So again my being here isn't so strange if one looks at it the right way."  
"Okay, then how did a Jedi find themselves 'welcomed into a family within the Mandalorian society'?"  
Tallisibeth chuckled as she continued to water her plants, never gazing a Vestara's direction as she spoke. "Are you familiar with the term 'Order 66'?"  
"Actually yes." Tallisibeth quickly turned her head to face her with a surprised expression. "Are you a survivor of 'Order 66'?"  
Tallisibeth let out a small half-hearted laugh as she set down the watering can. "I would argue very much that no one actually survived 'Order 66'. While some of us continued to draw breath afterwards, the lives we had ended in that slaughter."  
"I'm sorry, I suppose this isn't something you want to talk about."  
"Well, you did ask, and I answered, I cannot simply leave the matter at this point. I was one of several Jedi that was rescued by a freighter pilot named Nyreen Vollen, she had previous dealings with clones so she held a great deal of sympathy towards both them and Jedi. Kal SKirata respected her for delivering the body of Venku's mother to Mandalore for a proper funeral, and helping many clones defect from the Empire. But those two argued over the prospect of helping Jedi like me. Apparently when everything went sideways after the 'Order' was given Venku's mother tried to break up fighting against members of her squad and a terrified Jedi who saw all clones as enemies. Unfortunately that's what got her killed. From that moment Kal had a vehement hatred for Jedi and had no qualms over leaving them to die, all because of the single act of a single frightened soul.  
He may have been a decent fellow, and loving towards his whole family, but Kal Skirata was still a man, and men hold petty grudges."  
"So I take it you two never quite got along?"  
"Nope, but not for the reason's you might think. You see apparently despite possessing no relation at all, I am the spitting image of Venku's mother Etain." Vestara head reeled back as she stared in deep confusion. "Wouldn't have believed it myself if they hadn't shown me pictures, when I first got here a bunch of people actually thought I **WAS** her. So it wasn't so much that he didn't like me, as it was looking at me was more than a little awkward."  
"A little, huh? So, did all the Jedi that this Nyreen helped stay on Mandalore?"  
Tallisibeth sat back down on the bench next to Vestara while setting the watering can in front of her."No, only myself."  
"May I ask why?" As she asked Tallisibeth gestured towards some plants across from them, and Vestara understanding her meaning got up to water them.  
"As I said before, if you love someone you make them your family. Short answer, during my time in Kyrimorut, I found a family."  
"That Mando in the golden armor, and the woman with the crazy hair?"  
Tallisibeth snickered hearing the woman's hair described as 'crazy'. "Yes, I suppose mother did keep an unusual style. But yes them. Mij Gilamar, a doctor who was Mandalorian by marriage only, and Ovolot Qail Uthan, a talented chemist and one of the leading scientists under the employ of the Confederacy of Independent Systems." Vestara stared back at her clearly unfamiliar with the term she used. "The separatists, my mother worked for the separatists."  
"Forgive me for sounding naive, but wouldn't that have made her an enemy of the republic, by default?"  
"No, what made her an enemy of the republic was her staunch objection to the Republic slowly assimilating every system into their alliance."  
As Vestara finished Tallisibeth gestured towards some more plant's nearby to water. "Okay, but what was she doing here?"  
"So many questions."  
"I'm simply trying to understand you and well, this." Waving her arms around in each direction. "How does a Jedi who just lost everything, suddenly have a luxurious mansion surrounded by gardens?"  
"I suppose my life does look luxurious from the outside, I'll give you that. Simply put, Gilamar was working with Skirata, and Uthan was contracted by Skirata to help reverse the accelerated aging of the clone troopers. During this time Gilamar and I met, and he was kind to me, taught me first aid. Uthan needed a lab assistant to help her with her work, and I needed to earn my stay so I helped her. Eventually they met, they liked each other, and they liked me, so when it was time for the Jedi refugees to leave I stayed, with them."  
"Wow."  
"As for the mansion itself, this is the culmination of Gilamar, Uthan, me and my late husbands hard work. We each had our own tragedies and worked hard to simply give ourselves a nice quiet place to set ourselves and perhaps find some peace. Also it provided plenty enough room for us to raise the children." Hearing Tallisibeth mention her husband, her adoptive parents, and her children made Vestara lightly chuckle. "Something amusing?"  
"Somewhat ironic I guess, greatest tragedy of your life up to that point and the outcome is, well, all of this. Certainly seems like 'silver-lining' situation. But I guess what I am most curious about is why you didn't rejoin the Jedi order after it was rebuilt? That was your life before wasn't it?"  
Tallisibeth's expression turned quite stern and she patted the space on the bench next to her signalling Vestara to come and sit with her. "It **WAS** my life yes, but I was nearing fifty years of age when the Order was officially reestablished. I was given to the order by my birth-parents at such a young age I don't even remember them, and until I was sixteen years of age that was my life, including the war. And then until the time that the Empire officially dissolved and was reformed as the Imperial Remnant, I was forced to maintain a low profile and refrain from taking my affairs off-world. For over thirty years I hid myself.  
So little of my life had been my choice, the first real one, the first true choice I made that I did not feel some sense of obligation behind was saying here with Gilamar and Uthan. During my years of hiding I married, and had several children, another choice **I** made. When the Empire dissolved and the Jedi Order re-established I considered joining, if for no other reason than to add my experience. But ultimately I considered what that would truly entail, leaving this life that I started, that I chose for one of which I was never given an option. On top of that I did do my research, and while following many of the Jedi orders original teachings, there were more than several ways that Skywalkers newly established order differed from the one I was raised in. So to be honest I wouldn't really be joining the Jedi Order, just something that greatly reassembled it. So I made a choice and I chose to stay here with my family. Without choice, without the ability to decide your own life, you aren't truly living, you simply exist."  
Vestara was quite taken with her words, not only because she understood what she meant but because of several parallels with her own life, she didn't just understand what she was saying she understood her perspective.  
"Now then, I've told you alot about my life, how is it you've come to be here?"  
"Short answer, I'm just helping Mirta. But how I came to travel with her, how I reached this point, that is a long story. Several long stories."  
"I see. Well then explain your statement that you are only formerly a Sith. You seem quite young to have been apart of that and left."  
"I suppose it's not that distant from your story, I was born into a society dominated by the Sith, so from the time I could walk that was what my father taught me. But eventually I realized just how corrupt that existence was. And when my family died I left that behind, I understand that there is apparently another faction out there, but I have no desire to join it. Like you said it wouldn't be the same life I was raised, and if it was that life was never my choice."  
"And then?"  
"What do you mean?"  
Tallisibeth rolled her eyes "And then what? You just hitched a ride with a random Mando'ade and got caught up in her affairs because 'why not'?"  
"Okay allow me to clarify, I did not leave right away. I kinda just sat around going in circles doing things I knew I shouldn't, against people I actually cared about, simply because its all I knew how to do. It didn't end well, and Mirta helped me. So now I'm here helping her."  
"You seem awfully unenthused about it."  
"I don't mind helping her, I owe her for quite a bit. But what perturbs me is I don't know if what I'm doing here is actually going to make a difference."  
Tallisibeth narrowed her eyes as she stared with great curiosity. "So your here to do something you **THINK** might help her, but could be a waste of time that gets you trapped on a foreign planet?"  
"That's the short of it, yes."  
Tallisibeth began refilling the water can while give Vestara a coy gaze. "And what is the objective? What exactly are you here to physically do?"  
"Search some computers for some random files that make up a chemical formula, that we hope, we **HOPE** , is the cure we have been looking for."  
"These 'random files' as you call them. You've found several?" Vestara faintly nodded. "At military outposts under Mandalorian control, that were visited by Skirata at some point." Vestara grew curious as she nodded again to her question. "And they make an image, they're simple fragments of an image hidden in standard operating files?"  
"Okay how do you know that?"  
"First allow me to placate your mind, the files your looking for do indeed make the cure." Hearing this made Vestara immediately sit up traight and stare wide eyed at Tallisibeth.  
"You know this? For a fact?" Tallisibeth simply nodded while smiling at her excitement. "This would be very helpful, how exactly do you know this?"  
"Because my mother was the the one who physically made the cure sixty years ago. And I was her lab assistant."  
"So you know for a fact these files make the cure? Definitively? If you are certain this would be helpful, Mirta and Fett would at least know all of this hasn't been a waste of time."  
"Yes, when I was first brought here to Mandalore and was staying in the haven they made, the Empire began using the virus to terminate anyone who didn't bow to their will. While my mother had been brought here to help with the aging of the Clones, she was tasked with creating an antigen, the formula you have been gathering does indeed make this antigen. Skirata split the pieces up amongst numerous of his subordinates so they would be kept safe, but he made sure the majority were kept off planet in case the Empire ever came looking."  
Vestara overall demeanor became more and more bright as she heard this, clearly though small this was very welcome news. "If you were her lab assistant then do you-"  
Tallisibeth held her hand up in anticipation of what Vestara was about to ask cutting her off. "I can't tell you how the antigen was made, I was simply her assistant. I did not then nor do I now possess the experience she did in such matters. My 'role', if you will, in making the cure was simply handing her, and helping her operate equipment. I hadn't the slightest clue what chemical components we were mixing. And I don't possess any of her old work files, so I can't give you anything to look through, all I can do is tell you that the goal you have been pursuing is indeed the one you seek. It's small but I'm sure of some consolation." Tallisibeth gestured towards some other plants she seemed to want watered and Vestara, now in a much brighter mood, very quickly began tending to the matter for the elderly woman. "So after all of this, what then?"  
"I'm still trying to figure that out."  
"How long have you been 'figuring it out'?"  
"I...I don't know, what year is it? I've spent so much time just stuck in a room aboard Mirta's ship I don't even know how long we had been traveling together."  
"First of all, that is a depressing notion. And second, that is too long. By now you should at least have and inkling of what you want to do."  
"Well, I know what I **WANT** to do. It just doesn't seem practical, or possible. So what I have been trying to figure out is what I'm **GOING** to do."  
"And what is it you want to do?"  
Vestara's happy mood was subsiding, she didn't want to talk about it, but for whatever reason felt it appropriate to do so. "I want to go back to where I was. Go back to what I was doing before." Tallisibeth tilted her head and stared intently with great curiosity. "After my family died, Skywalker more or less took me in. And I asked him and his son to teach me to be a Jedi. And they agreed."  
"And this is what you want?"  
"I believe so."  
"You seem to doubt this."  
"It was new, it was different. I didn't have to expect harsh recompense for every single failure."  
"And why is it that this so impractical?"  
"I told you before, I went in circles doing things I know I shouldn't. I made mistakes. People got hurt, even died."  
"Life hardly goes the way we want, and times have not been so peaceful recently, so I guess the question is did you mean for people to get hurt?"  
"No! No, I didn't. But that is hardly the point."  
"What we intend, what we wish to do is important. Sometimes things simply go awry, no one single person can control everything."  
Vestara paused for a moment to recall how Ben had followed her to the planet she destroyed Ship, and how cordial they were to one another. "Even if I tried to go back there I can only think of one maybe two people in total who would accept me."  
"I think you are underestimating just how forgiving the Jedi can be."  
"And you are underestimating the gravity of my actions."  
"You have already left the Sith, you announce yourself as a former Sith, and you are here on some planet you hold no ties to trying to undo the work of a Sith, what is to stop you from going back to the Jedi? If that is what you really want then what is really stopping you from going back?"  
Vestara set down the watering can and stared at her feet for a moment before turning back to look Tallisibeth in the eyes. "Because I don't remember why I wanted that. I had a reason, a reason all of my own. I...I lost it somewhere along the way. Whether I want to go back, whether I actually believed I could go back, I don't know why I would go back, if I tried would it be because I wanted it? Or simply because there are people there that were kind to me, more so than my own family? And if I want this, if this is the path I want to follow, why? How can I devote myself to something if my own reasons are lost to me? You left that life and started a new one because you had a reason, one you found, I need to find mine. Not that it would do me any good."  
Vestara silently went back to tending to the plants in the garden while Tallisibeth simply watched, no longer asking any questions. Simply pondering Vestara's words silently.

 **A/N Good golly gosh, this would have been here sooner if my frickin keyboard would keep working. I've had the thing for six years and it's now startin to fail me, makes writing all of this difficult.  
More reference to Tallisibeth's past, which I was surprised when no one commented on her being introduced, thought that would get at least one head turn.  
Also a reference to The Clone Wars. I want to see if anyone notices it.**


End file.
